Grilled Romaine Salad

It’s a fancy salad that’s easy. If you are looking for a way to make a basic vinaigrette salad with Parmesan more interesting try grilling. Of course, there is absolutely nothing wrong with an arugula salad with lemon vinaigrette, but why not take advantage of the grill if you have it fired up.

This romaine salad recipe is a salad and a side dish. The moment you do a little cooking, the romaine becomes a cousin to other cooked green side dishes. Spring and especially summer are all about casual, informal meals, so there is no need to start with a salad. You can put everything on the table at once, so it’s even better when the lines are blurred.

The Ingredients

This is what you need:

• Romaine: There are no substitutes here. You need to use romaine. If you end up buying full heads instead of just the hearts, I recommend pulling off the looser outer leaves. Fresh romaine will be a vibrant green. Avoid any that shows signs of rust or limp leaves.
• Olive oil is the base of the dressing. Use high quality extra virgin olive oil.
• Lemon juice is bright and citrusy in the dressing. If you don’t have a lemon, you can use a couple tablespoons of white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar instead.
• Mustard: Whole grain Dijon mustard not only adds flavor to the dressing, but it also emulsifies it and keeps it from separating.
• Garlic: The flavors of this salad are practically begging for the minced garlic clove that’s included in the dressing.
• Salt & pepper are important to season the dressing and the overall salad.
• Parmesan: Rather than grating the Parmesan, I prefer shaving it into thin pieces. You can do this with a knife or a vegetable peeler. Then I like to take the cheese and sprinkle and crumble it a bit over the salad before I serve it. If you like something stronger, you can swap in blue cheese crumbles.
• Parsley: Along with the cheese, I garnish the salad with chopped fresh herbs. Parsley as well as chives are great on this salad.

Optional Additions

You can keep it minimal with lettuce, dressing, cheese, and herbs, or you can also add:

• Homemade croutons
• Halved cherry tomatoes
• Chopped nuts

How To Make A Grilled Romaine Salad

Preheat a gas or charcoal grill on high heat.

1. Make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk the fresh lemon juice, olive oil, mustard, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper.

2. Brush the dressing on the romaine hearts. This acts almost like a marinade to do this before the romaine hits the grill.

3. Grill the romaine. This will only take about a minute per side. You are just searing it, so it has grill marks and caramelized edges.

4. Drizzle the salad with additional dressing and finish with Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley.