Saturday, January 10, 2009

Move Over Cesar

One of my most favorite salads is a Cesar Salad. I prefer mine a bit on the garlicky side with a hint of lemon and no whole anchovy in sight. Those hairy creatures make me want to hide under my table and cry. Of course, this is a luxury salad I order only in certain restaurants during certain celebratory meals.
Tonight, however, I discovered a DELICIOUS alternative: Grilled Romain Salad. YUM! I simply sliced a Romaine Heart in half and rubbed it down with a bit of olive oil. I sprinkled on some salt and pepper. Then I heated my grill pan (one of my favorite kitchen tools!) up to a nice medium heat. I grilled each side until the romaine had nice char marks and a slight wilted feel.
I topped the dish off with a homemade Lemon-Garlic Vinaigrette. This is made by combining 6 TBL Olive Oil, the juice of half a lemon, 2 tsp. Red Wine Vinegar, 1/4 tsp oregano, 2 TBL water, fresh ground pepper and sea salt to taste. I prefer to make my vinaigrette in a lidded container so I can shake it up before serving.
The dish was so satisfying. The grilling took away some of the tartness of the romaine and replaced it with a wonderful, smokey, caramelized flavor. The lemon and garlic were the perfect compliments and made an incredible side dish to our cast-iron grilled steak and roasted parsnips with whole roasted garlic.

1 comment:

  1. This looks yummy Tracie! Congrats on the new blog. It's a lot of fun and I think it's right up your alley. You'll love it! xo Be well. Sandy

    ReplyDelete