One of the many reasons I love to do cooking contests is because they force me to think outside of the box and to experiment with new ingredients. Recently I won a contest where I was required to use butter lettuce in a creative recipe. Challenge Butter+ butter lettuce= a marriage made in heaven! They are both are velvety smooth and full of possibilities. Why not combine the two for a great recipe!

Lettuce is not just for salads, and butter can also be used to create healthy recipes. This is the point I wanted to make with my creation. In fact some of my favorite recipes include cooking with butter and lettuce. After all, lettuce is another green like spinach, kale or cabbage. Why not think of butter and lettuce in a different light!

I decided to create a delicate seafood recipe. It started with a beautiful piece of fresh halibut topped it with a flavorful crabmeat mixture. Then I wrapped the fish with tender pieces of butter lettuce. I soon discovered that when you poach lettuce wrapped fish, it acts like shrink wrap! It conforms to the fish making it not only beautiful, but adds a delicious flavor and keeps the fish moist and the filling intact.

Next to pull it all together, my Challenge Butter came into play. I created a quick sauce made in the blender with butter, capers, lemon, basil and of course, some more butter lettuce! To finish, a simple sprinkle of diced lettuce gave this dish a little bit of a crunch. This recipe is proof that butter lettuce and Challenge Butter not only go hand in hand, but they are quite a healthy couple!

You don’t need a cooking contest to encourage you to create your own award winning recipes. Let good quality ingredients be your inspiration for new ideas in the kitchen, and start looking at your ingredients in a different way! Click here for the recipe