Salad - on a grill!

I went through a phase when I was younger when I "hated" lettuce. I mean, I literally decided that I despised it and argued to my parents that I had always hated it. Always. I'm not sure what poor lettuce ever did to me, but I've since come to my senses and realize that lettuce is my friend. In fact, I like my friend lettuce so much that I decided I needed to bring some excitement into its life. Who wants to be cold ALL the time? Not me. So I introduced my friend lettuce to my other friend, the grill. And a beautiful relationship formed...

Nowadays at our house, when we are having salad, it's often grilled. If you've never stuck lettuce on your grill, you're probably not alone. But you should really consider it. The heat of the grill brings out a new flavor that totally lets the lettuce shine! (Not to mention, the recipe couldn't be simpler and requires very little chopping and prepping)

Sara & Jon's Grilled Salad

Ingredients:

Romaine hearts (1 heart usually serves 2 people)
1 head radicchio
Garlic (1 clove, minced per head of lettuce)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sea salt
Cracked black pepper
White wine vinegar

Preparation:

I love to make this salad with a combination of both romaine and radicchio for the contrast in color as well as flavor. However, we've made this plenty of times with just romaine and it is still wonderful! If you've never used radicchio, it is a small and compact head of lettuce that by first glance may look like a tiny red cabbage. It has a stronger flavor than romaine or iceburg lettuce - with slightly spicy and bitter hints.



To prep the lettuce, simply half the romaine, leaving the core intact. Because the radicchio is so dense, I typically quarter it.

Important note: these lettuces retain A LOT of moisture. A lot. But because you need the halves or quarters to stay intact to grill them, you can't send them for a ride through the salad spinner. To wash, I usually rinse and place cut-side down on a clean kitchen towel or stack of paper towels and leave them for 30 minutes to an hour. And just before grilling I will blot them again to make sure I get any excess moisture out. Cooked wet lettuce is mushy lettuce. Just say no.

Once my lettuce is sparkly clean and dry, I drizzle it will olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and squish my minced garlic into its little nooks and crannies.

Then place your lettuce on your selected grill surface. We have made this on our grills (charcoal and gas), in our grill pan on the stove and even in our George Foreman grill (just don't close the lid). Because it happened to be raining outside, this lettuce was cooked in the grill pan. I started with the radicchio and placed it into the grill pan cut-side down for 3-4 minutes or until it got grill marks and the edges just started to cook/wilt.

Next was the romaine. This takes only 2-3 minutes to "cook". Obviously if you're doing this on your grill it can happen simultaneously, just put the radicchio on a minute or two earlier.

Here's what you're aiming for on the lettuce. You want to tell it's been on the grill but you still want it to retain its texture and crunch.

All that's left to do is chopping it into bite-sized pieces (removing the cores)

And tossing it into a bowl with a few splashes of white wine vinegar, another drizzle of olive oil and an extra sprinkling of salt and pepper, if you're so inclined.

Another easy way to add a little variety to your veggies!