GrillinFools
With the success of the Grilled Romaine Lettuce, which I realize to some (okay, many) sounds beyond nutty, but it is actually amazing with only grilled lettuce and grated asiago or parmesan, I decided to take to another level with a more traditional grilled salad. This is a combination of the grilled tomatoes I did here and the Grilled Romaine post.
The reason this grilling recipe is so off the wall is that most people don’t know that lettuce has natural sugars that can’t be revealed by dumping Caesar dressing and croutons on. By charring the lettuce, those natural sugars are revealed as they caramelize.
Prepare the grill for high heat grilling so load it up with coals and head back inside while it heats up.
Grilled Salad Ingredients:
1 head of Romaine Lettuce, the outside “leafy” leafs removed
2 small tomatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic, divided
Coarse salt and black pepper
Directions:
The first, and most important, ingredient is the Romaine. We can’t make grilled salad without lettuce:
First, peal the outer “leafy” leaves as they will cook too quickly and wilt before the rest gets a nice char:
After you rinse the giant heart of Romaine you created, slice it lengthwise and place flat side down (make sure you go flat side down first, more on that in a second) and drizzle with olive oil, dust with granulated garlic, and hit with a little coarse salt and black pepper, making sure to do the oil first to give the latter something to stick to:
Then flip over and repeat on the flat side:
I did the curved side first for a reason. If you oil and season the flat side first and then flip over and place that side down on the cutting board, most of the oil and seasoning will wind up on the cutting board rather than in your grilled salad.
Next up, slice a couple tomatoes into thick slices. If you slice it too thin the tomato will turn completely to mush in a couple seconds on the heat:
Gorgonzola Dressing Ingredients:
2 ounces Gorgonzola crumbles
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp garlic, minced
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 tbsp grated asiago
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
1/8 tsp fresh cracked white pepper (optional)
Yields four small salads or two large salads
Combine the Gorgonzola dressing ingredients and blend with a whisk, spoon or fork until most of the Gorgonzola crumbles are blended in. I leave a few lumps in there as I’m a sucker for Gorgonzola:
The Char-Griller Akorn is good and hot, time to make some grilled salad.
Put the tomatoes on first, right over the coals:
This is a very tricky procedure that may require some assistance. Luckily for me, my oldest, Finnegan, was positively elated to help, particularly since he got to hold my tongs (he’s got them over his head):
If the fire is not wicked hot, the tomatoes will turn to mush before you get a wonderful flavor char. This only takes a minute or two:
Once the tomatoes are charred on both sides, pull the tomatoes and place the lettuce on the grill. You can do the tomatoes and lettuce at the same time if you aren’t also taking pictures because you have document grilling recipes on your blog:
This only takes a minute or two, so don’t walk away and to get a beer or refill your glass of wine. Again, the fire needs to be wicked hot in order to get the char we’re looking for rather than wilting the lettuce through. In only about 90 seconds my grilled salad looked like this:
Since one side is flat and the other side is curved, you have to char the curved side twice, as if the half heads are triangles. The flat side is the base and the curved side is comprised of the other two sides.
Once the grilled salad is charred all the way around, remove from the grill and plate. Drizzle with the Gorgonzola dressing and hit it with the grilled tomatoes:
Make sure not to eat the bottom couple of inches as that’s where the grit can accumulate. When making a traditional Caesar salad, you would cut the bases off, but we need them to hold the half heads together on the grill.
If you have any questions about the above dish please feel free to comment below or email me.
If you liked the grilled salad with Gorgonzola dressing recipe and would like to see other grilling recipes of side dishes and appetizers, click here. Or other fruits and vegetables click here.
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