Grate your lettuce in a few different ways.
If you're looking to spice up your lunch or dinner, consider chopping or grating your lettuce a little differently to enhance your meal. Large, coarse tears can be used for lettuce wraps, medium-sized chops can be used for a simple salad, smaller shreds of lettuce can be used as a condiment on hamburgers, and a very small grate can be used for tacos or taco salad. Whatever way you choose, grating your lettuce will only take you a few seconds.
Using Your Hands
You can quickly and easily grate your lettuce using just your hands. This method is best for larger lettuce pieces that are to be used for wraps. Wash the lettuce, and remove the outside leaves from the head. Tear off three lettuce leaves for each wrap you'll be making. Align the leaves together, and tear them in half with your hands. Place them on your counter top, overlapping the leaves. Place the food in the middle of the leaves. Fold the sides of the leaves over top the food, then roll the food in the leaves for a tight wrap. Use a toothpick to secure if necessary.
Using a Large Kitchen Knife
Although you can tear your lettuce by hand for a salad, this often makes the leaves too big to all fit in your mouth on one forkful. Instead, a large kitchen knife can also be used to coarsely grate your lettuce into the perfect size for salads. Slice your lettuce in half, lengthwise. Cut one half of the head in half once again with the knife. If you're feeding more than three to four people, use the entire head of lettuce. Make 1-inch chops from the end of the lettuce to the top for easy bite-size pieces of lettuce.
Using a Chef's Knife
If you're using your lettuce as a condiment, like on top of hamburgers, you'll want a thinner grate of lettuce. To achieve this grate, use a sharp chef's knife. Quarter the head of lettuce with your knife. Place one quartered piece on your cutting board. Place your non-dominant hand on the middle of the quartered piece to keep it in place. Quickly, but very carefully, chop the entire piece from the top to bottom, moving your non-dominant hand down the piece of lettuce as you advance the knife. Pile all of the chopped lettuce pieces onto the middle of your cutting board. Place your non-dominant hand on the top of the blade, towards the end of the knife. Chop the pile of the lettuce, keeping your one hand on the blade to thinly grate the lettuce using a slight see-saw motion with the knife.
Using a Food Processor
For a very thin grate, like the kind used for tacos, nachos or garnishments, the best thing to use is a food processor. Coarsely chop your lettuce so it fits inside the processor. If you need a lot of grated lettuce, grate small sections of lettuce at a time to prevent clogging. Place the lettuce inside the processor, place the lid on top so lettuce doesn't fly all over the place and pulse the processor until the lettuce has been grated to perfection.
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