Sometimes getting lettuce off its head can seem like conducting surgery.
But one Reddit user shows us that we're totally overcomplicating it. Her post in the r/FoodHacks community demonstrates that getting rid of that pesky core (which is also edible, by the way) is as easy as one, two, whack.
"There's a super fast way to get this whole entire core out," she says in a video. "Just flip it over and give it a good whack."
That's right. She just flips the lettuce so that the core is facing down and whacks it on the counter. This loosens the core up enough for her to pull it right out.
It's important to eat your veggies for health's sake. Incorporating more plants into your diet can help reduce the occurrence of chronic illnesses like heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer. This hack makes it easier than ever, requiring just seconds of your time and no knives.
Adopting a plant-rich diet is also one way you can make a difference for the environment. Demand for animal protein, which is resource intensive, has shot up in recent years with about 60% of the world's agricultural land devoted to livestock grazing. A diet rich in vegetables uses less land and water and produces fewer planet-warming gases.
Several people who worked in restaurants commented on the post, saying that this is how they prepped lettuce for salads.
"I had to do that many, every day. I worked in a restaurant and took care of the salad bar," one user says. "I'd hit the stem with my wrist, pop it out, dump the heads in the ice water to rinse them, then kachunk them in that multi-blade lettuce cutter."
Others lament that the same trick doesn't work for lettuce's friend, cabbage.
"Yeah, it's a bummer it doesn't work with cabbage, cause cabbage is much more of a pain to even just peel apart than lettuce," says one commenter. "You can still cut the core out, to get a similar effect, but it's not as simple, clean, or safe."
"Man that's what I came to the comments to find out," another replies. "I'm bummed cabbage doesn't have a fun hack like lettuce. I'll continue cutting out the core."
Other kitchen pros were surprised they had never heard of this hack.
"I cook quite a bit and have been for years," one says. "This is the first time I'm seeing this."
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