1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, to brush on lettuce
For the dressing:
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
juice of half a lemon
1 bird’s eye chili pepper, seeded and finely diced
½ cup hazelnuts, toasted, skinned and roughly chopped
1 teaspoon honey
kosher salt to taste
To serve:
½ cup blue cheese, crumbled
Takes ,
serves 2.
Instructions
Preheat barbecue to medium-high, about 500°F. Halve the heads of baby romaine lettuce lengthwise and then brush lightly with extra virgin olive oil.
Prepare the dressing: Place all of the ingredients for the dressing into a small bowl and stir together. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt.
Grill the lettuce: Place lettuce halves cut side down onto the grill and cook for 1½ minutes. Turn over and cook for 1 minute more before removing from the grill.
To assemble: Arrange grilled lettuce halves on a service platter. Give the dressing a stir before spooning it onto the grilled lettuce. Sprinkle the crumbled blue cheese over the salad. Serve immediately.
Grilled Baby Romaine Salad
Ingredients
6 heads baby romaine lettuce, halved lengthwise
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, to brush on lettuce
For the dressing:
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
juice of half a lemon
1 bird’s eye chili pepper, seeded and finely diced
½ cup hazelnuts, toasted, skinned and roughly chopped
1 teaspoon honey
kosher salt to taste
To serve:
½ cup blue cheese, crumbled
Directions
Preheat barbecue to medium-high, about 500°F. Halve the heads of baby romaine lettuce lengthwise and then brush lightly with extra virgin olive oil.
Prepare the dressing: Place all of the ingredients for the dressing into a small bowl and stir together. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt.
Grill the lettuce: Place lettuce halves cut side down onto the grill and cook for 1½ minutes. Turn over and cook for 1 minute more before removing from the grill.
To assemble: Arrange grilled lettuce halves on a service platter. Give the dressing a stir before spooning it onto the grilled lettuce. Sprinkle the crumbled blue cheese over the salad. Serve immediately.
Grilled Baby Romaine Salad
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Miniature grilled heads of romaine sprinkled with chopped hazelnuts, blue cheese and a honey-lemon drizzle…
Who knew GRILLED BABY ROMAINE SALAD could be so perfectly tasty!
Two things happened to inspire this recipe for GRILLED BABY ROMAINE SALAD. First, I was in a resto in the city and noticed a server deliver a humongous wedge of lettuce to a guest seated next to me. The lettuce had pronounced grill marks on the lettuce and thought, “Hmmm, imagine grilling a head of lettuce.” That planted the seeds for this idea.
The second moment of inspiration happened about a week later in my local supermarket when I noticed a small package of miniature romaine lettuce heads. With six to a pack, I thought, “Hmmm, imagine grilling these little dinkers.”
I’m thinking about making this GRILLED BABY ROMAINE LETTUCE SALAD for a dinner at the cottage or to impress my foodie friends at a dinner party. It’s an easy recipe, but the little extras I tossed into the mix really make it memorable.
Reality check – 8 ingredients, 15 minutes start to finish, and a true taste sensation. Turn your grill on and make either our MIXED GRILL, our VEGETABLE MEDLEY or, our EASY GRILLED CHICKEN, then let’s really make this dinner count with GRILLED BABY ROMAINE SALAD!
Here’s the lowdown on the rundown.
BABY ROMAINE LETTUCE
I’m hoping you have the same good fortune and find the baby romaine I’m calling for in this recipe. I used the GREEN GIANT variety, called LITTLE GEMS. I’m thinking this lettuce may not always be available, so call ahead to your favourite grocery store to check availability.
BEST DRESSED
In my mind I heard the voice of culinary reason; don’t complicate this, work with solid flavours, less is more. And so, it’s the simplest dressing imaginable – extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice for zing, a finely diced bird’s eye chili pepper for zip, and then toasted, roughly chopped hazelnuts to add nuttiness.
HAZELNUTS
Worth noting that I’ve since made this salad again (you will as well) and have tried swapping out the hazelnuts for others. End result – I keep going back to the hazelnuts, they pair perfectly with the lettuce and the cheese. That said, feel free to experiment.
Blue cheese sprinklled
FEELING BLUE
The addition of the luxurious, heavenly blue cheese is all thanks to our friends at THE CHEESE TABLE – click HERE for more information about these cheesy peeps.
I added the cheese as more of an afterthought. Carol had come up to the cottage and we shot the story in the middle of a very busy week. We work hard, but when we sit down to enjoy a meal together, we’ve pledged to talk about our feelings (she’s going to hate me for oversharing) and make the meal count. I had the cheese on hand, and it just struck me to sprinkle some more on the salad. The takeaway: I need to have more afterthoughts when I’m working out recipes because the resulting flavours are phenomenal.
One tip – when working with a soft cheese like blue, place it in the freezer for maybe 30 minutes before you get ready to crumble. Doing so helps create tiny, ideal-sized morsels.
FINAL THOUGHTS
This recipe is a study on creating something very tasty with just a few choice ingredients. Please note the serving size of 2, and based on the way Carol and I scarfed it down, we suggest doubling or tripling the recipe. Even then, we doubt there will be leftovers.
This GRILLED BABY ROMAINE LETTUCE SALAD has everything going for it. You simply need to go ahead and make it – something amazing is in the works!
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Ingredients
6 heads baby romaine lettuce, halved lengthwise
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, to brush on lettuce
For the dressing:
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
juice of half a lemon
1 bird’s eye chili pepper, seeded and finely diced
½ cup hazelnuts, toasted, skinned and roughly chopped
1 teaspoon honey
kosher salt to taste
To serve:
½ cup blue cheese, crumbled
Directions
Preheat barbecue to medium-high, about 500°F. Halve the heads of baby romaine lettuce lengthwise and then brush lightly with extra virgin olive oil.
Prepare the dressing: Place all of the ingredients for the dressing into a small bowl and stir together. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt.
Grill the lettuce: Place lettuce halves cut side down onto the grill and cook for 1½ minutes. Turn over and cook for 1 minute more before removing from the grill.
To assemble: Arrange grilled lettuce halves on a service platter. Give the dressing a stir before spooning it onto the grilled lettuce. Sprinkle the crumbled blue cheese over the salad. Serve immediately.
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