How to Grill Your Salad
Summertime is grilling time, there is nothing more fun than heading out to your backyard (Or balcony) grill and cooking up something delicious. While there are the classics that we love to grill like chicken, burgers, and hard veggies, one thing that I am quite fond of grilling is…lettuce!
…No, that’s not a typo, I really do like grilling lettuce.
Grilled salads are not a new concept, in fact they have shown up in some fine dining restaurants, but knowing how to do it at home can take your grilling game to the next level and is a great way to show off to friends and family.
First, let’s talk about the lettuce itself.
I will be using a head of romaine lettuce as it has a good flavor and has sturdy hearts to keep it together and stable on the grill, however any rustic lettuce with sturdy hearts will work too.
(By the way, if you haven’t tried it, a coleslaw made with grilled cabbage is out of this world)
To prepare the lettuce, all I need to do is cut the romaine head in half. I do want to leave the stem end of the lettuce on, as that will keep the individual leaves from breaking apart and falling through your grill grates, which to me is money down the drain.
Ok, before we get to further prepping my lettuce for the grill, I’m going to go ahead and put together a quick dressing. This dressing will be similar to a classic Caesar salad dressing but with a lighter summertime twist.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together 1 tablespoon each of lemon juice, sherry vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce, 1 teaspoon each of chopped capers and salt, 6 minced garlic cloves, and 2 teaspoons of anchovy paste.
Here we go again with anchovy paste. Listen, anchovy has been a key ingredient for Ceasar salads for years so…deal with it.
After whisking everything together, slowly drizzle 1/3-1/2 cup of olive oil until you get a thick, creamy emulsion. Taste the dressing and see if it needs more salt or acid. Also, you can make this dressing hours ahead of time and toss or drizzle it onto the lettuce when you’re ready to serve!
When I do salad dressings, I often make them slightly on the salty and acidic side —because the flavor will dilute slightly from the water in the lettuce.
Alright, let’s get grilling!
I’ll begin by pre-heating my propane grill to medium-high heat. If you’re using a charcoal or electric grill, then heat it up the way you normally would to medium-high.
Before we get going with grilling this lettuce, there are a few things to understand.
Lettuce leaves are very thin and fragile, so they are going to wilt on you in seconds.
The process of grilling lettuce is going to take 1-2 minutes total, so I suggest doing this once all of the other food you plan on grilling is cooked or mostly cooked.
The water on the lettuce should prevent it from catching on fire, but if this does happen, then you can extinguish it by removing the lettuce from the grill and dousing the flame with a wet paper towel.
Once the grill is hot, I’ll toss my lettuce in olive oil and salt.
I’ll then lay my lettuce cut-side down onto the grill and let that go for about 15-30 seconds, or until the lettuce begins to char.
I’ll then turn the lettuce 90 degrees and let it go a bit longer.
Once I’m happy with the char and the lettuce has wilted slightly, I’ll take it off the grill and let it cool down for a minute.
From there, you could place the charred lettuce onto a plate and drizzle the dressing on top, or you could chop up the lettuce and toss it with the dressing in a bowl. Your call.
As for additions, I’ve topped my grilled salad with a squeeze of lemon juice, some torn parsley leaves (Basil is great too) and some blue cheese crumbles.
Now, I know that there are people out there who are afraid of blue cheese because they see that it’s moldy, but let me tell you a secret…all cheese is mold. It’s just curdled milk pressed together and left to age for months at a time.
However, if you are still not sure about blue cheese, then grated parmesan will taste good too.
And there you go! An easy and delicious grilled romaine salad with blue cheese! It’s slightly wilted, has that nice char flavor, has the sharpness of the blue cheese, the tang from the dressing, and is the perfect way to say hello to the summertime.
