In this very simple and delicious dish, lettuce leaves provide enough moisture for stewing baby vegetables.

large leaves (about 6 - 8 pieces) from soft head/leaf lettuce
baby carrots (about 6 - 8 pieces)
baby courgettes (about 4 - 6 pieces)
sugar/snap pea pods (about a handful)
small shallots (about 2 - 3 pieces)
butter
salt
black pepper
chopped chives
dash of lemon juice

Rinse the sugar pea pods. Top and tail the onions, halve them lengthwise and remove the skins. Cut the halves into two to three longitudinal parts.

Rinse the baby carrots and courgettes and top and tail them neatly. Scrub or lightly peel the carrots, if necessary. If the vegetables are somewhat thick, you can halve them lengthwise to shorten the cooking time. Also, the carrots may be pre-boiled for about 5 minutes, since they are the slowest to cook.

Take a wide, medium-sized saucepan, preferably fitted with a glass lid so you can easily see without lifting it and letting the steam escape whether the vegetables are done.

Add a few pats of butter on the bottom of the pan. Rinse the lettuce leaves thoroughly and place in the pan. Add a bit of salt.

Place the vegetables on the bed of lettuce, sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper and add a few more pats of butter (see the picture on right). Seal the pan firmly with the lid and place on stovetop on high heat.

As soon as the lettuce starts to wilt and the liquid formed on the bottom of the pan starts to boil, reduce the heat to medium-high. Stew the ingredients, covered, for about 6 to 7 minutes, shaking the pan every now and then to prevent sticking to the bottom.

Quickly check whether the vegetables (mainly the carrots) are tender and let cook for a couple of minutes longer, if necessary. There should be very little liquid left in the pan  —  if not, raise the heat a bit. Take the pan off the heat and pick out and discard the pieces of wilted lettuce. Add a couple of pats of cold butter and some chopped chives and a small dash of lemon juice and shake the pan until the butter has melted and glazed the vegetables.

Serve the dish on its own, or to accompany meat or fish dishes.
Serves 1 - 2.

Additional information:
In addition to, or instead of, the above mentioned vegetables, you can use other miniature-sized vegetables like baby leeks, turnips, beets, corn cobs, etc. If mini-vegetables are not available, use normal-sized vegetables cut in bite-size pieces.

Recipe source: family recipe.