Grilled Romaine Salad

Before we moved to Arizona, we lived in a neighborhood called Napa Valley. Unfortunately for us, the grapes did not grow there, but thanks to some friends with a great little wine store – our cellar was stocked pretty well. The best thing about the neighborhood was meeting some of the best neighbors! People that enjoy to cook, love to eat healthy, try new things and share the experiences together!

These grilled romaine salads were almost always a hit (you can obviously modify salads easily) and of course the best is when you have garden fresh ingredients to throw in. I know – if you live in the Midwest you are probably rolling your eyes at me right now as I am posting this in January.

Here is my first attempt at walking you through one of my “recipes.”

First – let’s talk about the lettuce. Romaine is one thing I haven’t grown in my garden, yet. Lettuce is tough as it’s a first favorite among bunnies, bugs and other critters and when you are trying to keep it all organic, let’s face it, lettuce ends up being planted more for a barrier or distraction from your other prized plants such as tomatoes! Nothing better than home grown tomatoes! So – a bag of romaine lettuce from the grocery store is perfect for this.

Make sure you wash your lettuce and dry – I use paper towels. Then lightly coat with olive oil and place on a baking sheet to take to the grill. But – let’s grill it last so it’s still warm!

I had the privilege of tasting some of the sweetest corn growing up and although after braces in junior high I typically still take it off the cob, I do still love corn. For this one we are going to grill the corn. Pre-heat your grill to a medium high/high heat. Clean your corn and rinse all of the silks out. If you miss some – one of the best things about grilling – is most of them will char off! Lightly oil the corn and place directly on the grill, rotating about 4-5 minutes – until your corn is about 1/2 charred. Set aside to cool enough to handle. Once it’s cooled – I use a handy corn zipper to remove the corn from the cob.

The remaining ingredients/toppings are up to you, but here are my favorites: Tomatoes, I like a variety of colors, heirlooms from the garden are my favorite. Chop them up into small pieces. Peppers – again, fresh sweet peppers from the garden are a favorite and add even more color. I also like to add diced avocados and blue cheese. You can substitute the blue cheese for feta or in the past I have just left the cheese on the side for others to choose. I also love cilantro if you so choose or any fresh herb is a nice addition.

One really cool thing about living in Arizona are the citrus trees – and fresh lemons picked from your backyard!

The Dressing is totally up to you. Here is an idea for one that is light, easy and goes well with the grilled salad with all of your toppings!

• Lemon Juice (approx 1/4 cup of fresh squeezed)
• Olive Oil (1/4 cup)
• Champagne or White Wine vinegar (1/8-1/4 cup)
• pinch of freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic

Place all of the ingredients in a container with a lid, or a salad dressing shaker, shake well. Ta-DA!

Once you have all of your toppings chopped and ready to go, grill your romaine! Medium heat for about 5 minutes should do the trick. You want to start to see a char, but not completely wilt the lettuce so that you leave some crunch. Place your romaine back on your baking sheet (or whatever serving platter you want to use) and start adding your toppings. You could make this a main dish or it’s super easy to cut the romaine into smaller pieces! ~Hope you enjoy!