Have you ever had a French salad green called Mache?
It also has the name of corn salad or lamb’s lettuce. It grows wild in Europe and recently has become widely available in the United States.
Mache has a delicate flavor resembling a nutty concentrated butterhead lettuce.
Mache grows vigorously in almost any soil, though it will produce more foliage with the addition of nitrogen rich compost or manure.   Some seed catalogs recommend planting in spring and then spacing the sowings throughout the summer for a continuous harvest.
The large seeded varieties produce 4-8 inch rosettes with a little green color, narrow elongated leaves.  They are highly productive.  Varieties include:  ‘Grosse Graine’, ‘Piedmont’ and ‘Valgros’. 
Small seeded varieties produce 2-5 inch rosettes with rounder, darker green leaves.
Varieties include: ‘Coquille de Louviers’, ‘D’Etampes, or ‘Verte de Cambrai’
Large seeded varieties are more heat resistant but do not taste as flavorful as the small seeded varities.
To harvest Mache, cut near the base for the whole rosette, or an inch or two higher for the cut and come again leaves. 
Leaves can still be plucked even when the plant begins to bolt. They remain tender with no hint of bitterness or spice.  Once they do mature you can shake the flower stalks into a paper bag to collect an ample supply of seeds.
You can store up to 2 weeks in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. Wash it just before serving.
To enjoy Mache as it best flavor, simply dress with a little olive oil and lemon juice.  The traditional French way is la mache with cooked beets and walnuts. 
Become acquainted with the easy to grow gourmet green and enjoy it in your winter garden.
 All about Lamb's Lettuce - Saveurs du Monde présente les laitues: La mâche 

Mache with Beets and Walnuts
½ lb. beets, skins on
2 tsp. caraway seeds (optional)
5 tsp walnut oil
1 Tbs. red wine vinegar
1 Tbs. Balsamic vinegar
Salt
Fresh ground white pepper
½ lb. mache, washed and dried
½ cup freshly shelled chopped walnuts. 
Put the beets and caraway seeds in a small saucepan and add enough water to cover the beets.  Bring the water to a boil, reduce the head and simmer the beets until tender, 30-40 minutes.  Run the beets under cold water, then remove their skin.  (alternatively, the beets may be wrapped in foil, baked whole in the oven, then peeled)  When they’re cool, chop the beets into ½ inch cubes and set aside in the bowl.  The beets can be prepared in advance, but the rest of the recipe should be done just before serving.
Make a vinaigrette with the oil, vinegars, salt and pepper.  Pour half the mixture over the beets and allow them to marinate for half an hour.
Arrange the mache in a large bowl or on separate plates.  Add the marinated beets and the walnuts, and mix gently.  Drizzle the remaining vinaigrette over the salad. 
Serve immediately. 
 

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