We’ve all ordered the classic Caesar Salad when in the mood for the perfect light-ish lunch, haven’t we? As the days are getting warmer, the sun shining longer and our outdoor barbecues begging to be used, why not try something a little different?
Grilling lettuce is one of those easy tricks to turn a simple Caesar salad into a real treat. The charred romaine becomes slightly caramelized when grilled and adds wonderful flavor to the dish. Homemade dressing just puts this over the top. This is my way to welcome Spring, what’s yours?
Grilled Caesar Salad with Homemade Dressing (serves 4)
2 small romaine hearts
¼ cup of croutons
4 strips of bacon
2 tablespoons of shaved Parmesan
Dressing:
1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon of anchovy paste
1 small garlic clove, smashed into a paste
¼ cup of olive oil
¼ cup of grated Parmesan
Salt and freshly ground pepper
To make the dressing, add the egg yolk, mustard, anchovy paste and garlic in a bowl. Whisk until the mixture looks homogeneous. Slowly add the oil, continuously whisking. Make sure that the oil gets well incorporated. Add the Parmesan. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Reserve.
Cut the bacon in small strips and sauté on medium high heat. You don’t need to add oil to the pan as the bacon has enough natural fat. Sauté for 3-4 minutes or until the bacon is nice and crisp. Place the bacon strips on paper towels to soak up excess fat. Reserve.
Set your barbecue or indoor grill to medium high heat. Cut the romaine hearts in half, vertically. Grill the romaine hearts (placing the inside of the romaine down) for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and set on your serving platter. Add the croutons, bacon strips and shaved Parmesan and drizzle with the dressing.
Enjoy the read!
VeggieGirl
March 19, 2009 at 9:28 pm (16 years ago)Oooh, looks lovely!!
Rachael
March 19, 2009 at 11:39 pm (16 years ago)I love grilling lettuce! You’ve just inspired me to post my grilled lettuces with balsamic dressing recipe…maybe when the weather warms up. This looks delicious!
Joie de vivre
March 19, 2009 at 11:58 pm (16 years ago)I have yet to try grilling lettuce, but I’m determined to when I get the grill out. Thanks for the inspiration!
Elyse
March 20, 2009 at 2:54 am (16 years ago)This sounds so delicious. I love grilled romaine, and with this homemade dressing, I bet it’s out of this world! I can’t wait to do this. Yay for spring! Yay for grilling!
zested
March 20, 2009 at 10:44 am (16 years ago)Wonderful idea, and beautiful photo. I haven’t made ceasar in ages, but this inspires me to bring it back out this spring. Thanks!
Sweet Charity
March 20, 2009 at 1:26 pm (16 years ago)I love grilled romaine, and this is my favorite kind of caesar salad.
Ingrid
March 20, 2009 at 3:57 pm (16 years ago)oh, yum, that looks so good my children love caesar salad…grilling it would make for a delicious change as well as stepping it up with homemade dressing!
~ingrid
lisa (dandysugar)
March 20, 2009 at 5:13 pm (16 years ago)This is a great idea. I have yet to try grilling lettuce but it sounds and looks great! Thanks for sharing this fabulous idea!
MaryBeth
March 20, 2009 at 7:58 pm (16 years ago)The flavors in this must be outstanding…
Ash
March 20, 2009 at 8:27 pm (16 years ago)I love this!! what a good idea! I’m gonna try it!
sunita
March 21, 2009 at 1:21 pm (16 years ago)Hi! i think it’s my first time here,andi must ssay that i’m bowled over by your photography anf presentation…simply gorgeous 🙂
unconfidentialcook
March 21, 2009 at 5:37 pm (16 years ago)We used to have this a lot, but not recently so thanks for lifting it out of the memory-loss bank. I add fresh lemon juice to the dressing….
Deborah
March 21, 2009 at 11:31 pm (16 years ago)This makes me excited to pull out the grill!
CookiePie
March 22, 2009 at 9:19 am (16 years ago)I had grilled romaine at a dinner party for the first time a few months ago and it was FANTASTIC!! Yours looks so lovely!
Junglefrog
March 23, 2009 at 8:32 am (16 years ago)What a great idea to grill lettuce! Right now the weather is really terrible here, after a couple of days of sunshine it seems even harder to bear… So no spring dishes yet, untill we have more sunshine!
Peter M
March 23, 2009 at 9:28 am (16 years ago)Nicely done! I saw this done once before but you yielded much nicer results. Is it summer yet?
Dawn
March 23, 2009 at 4:58 pm (16 years ago)yours came out so perfectly! nice and clean. I’ve never tasted this (yet), but it looks tasty.
Summer
March 23, 2009 at 6:42 pm (16 years ago)I have never even thought to grill the lettuce first, but that picture makes it look really good!
Summer
squirrelbread
March 24, 2009 at 9:15 pm (16 years ago)I’ve seen this concept once before and thought it was brilliant. Your photos are lovely, and now I’m ready to try this!
Thanks and cheers,
*Heather*
nick
March 26, 2009 at 4:53 pm (16 years ago)For some reason, EVERY time I try this I end up with limp-noodle romaine hearts. Yours really looks fantastic, and the dressing sounds just about right. I think the original version might have used limes instead of lemons and the current trend may be due to a mistranslation of “limon” in Spanish to “lemon” in English, by Julia Child. I wrote a post about it a while back.
Way to make me feel bad about my lettuce grilling abilities AND make motivate me to give it another go all in one swoop. Thanks (I think) 🙂
Chocolate Shavings
March 26, 2009 at 5:01 pm (16 years ago)nick: I think the key is to grill the romaine hearts pretty quicky to prevent them from getting too wilted.. let me know if you give it another try!
Sophie
March 27, 2009 at 12:42 pm (16 years ago)This is lovely, I like how the simple ingredients have a touch of elegance. The colors and textures contrast beautifully :).
nick
April 1, 2009 at 11:11 am (16 years ago)Update: Excellent advice. I tried again with a smoking hot grill pan lined with grape seed oil and about 20-30 seconds worth of heat did the job w/o any wilting. Thank you!
matt wright
April 5, 2009 at 12:28 am (16 years ago)The best caesar I have ever seen.
Hungry Gal
April 26, 2009 at 9:25 pm (16 years ago)I read about a grilled caesar salad recently in Bon Appetit magazine but your picture has thoroughly convinced me that I should make this right away.
vanillalemonade.com
November 20, 2011 at 8:15 am (13 years ago)Love grilling the lettuce! And you are right- Make your own dressing!