Friday, July 26, 2013

Grilled Romaine with Bacon-Balsamic Vinaigrette



For this round of the recipe swap, the theme is Grilling/Cook Out. You can imagine that this is fairly far outside my comfort zone! I wanted to participate and try something new. I don’t really eat meat on the bone, so I specified that with Sarah from A Taste of Home Cooking who organizes the recipe swaps. I’m usually not demanding at all: I’m not really very picky. I got this recipe from Mary Ellen’s Cooking Creations  for a grilled romaine salad and I was really excited to try it. 

I’ve had a grilled salad one other time, at Western/steakhouse restaurant. I liked it, but my lettuce was a little too grilled. I figured I could control that, plus it had a wonderful bacon/balsamic dressing that I knew I would like. I sometimes like bleu cheese and sometimes I don’t, so for this recipe I substituted goat’s cheese in its place. 

While we do own a grill, I made this inside on the grill pan. I didn’t have good luck cooking the bacon and onion; my onions were burnt to a crisp before the bacon was done. I started again and cooked the bacon partially and then added the onions so they wouldn’t get burnt. The grill pan worked great, but I ended up standing over a hot stove for longer than planned. I wasn’t sure how we would eat this, so I ended up chopping up the lettuce and mixing everything together. I did like the flavors of this, but the grilled flavor wasn’t very strong. Thanks for the recipe Mary Ellen! It was good to try something new.


Grilled Romaine with Bacon-Balsamic Vinaigrette
2 tablespoons olive oil

6 slices bacon, chopped
2 tablespoon chopped onion
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
2 heads romaine lettuce, cut in 1/2 lengthwise
2 tablespoon crumbled goat’s cheese
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the grill or a grill pan to high heat.

First, make the dressing: heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet until hot. Add the bacon and cook for about 3 minutes. Add the onions to the pan and cook until the bacon is crispy and the onion is soft. Add the balsamic vinegar and the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan. Stir and then remove from the heat.

Brush the romaine with a little olive oil and place on the grill, cut side down.  Quickly sear; this will take about three minutes.

Pour the dressing over the romaine and top with the goat’s cheese. Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper.  
 

6 comments:

kylee said...

I've always been too scared to try a grilled salad - but this looks good!

Mary Ellen said...

This is one of my favorite grilled salads. I'm glad you liked it, but am sorry that you didn't grill it. I promise that the grill flavor would have been a lot stronger if you did :)

Unknown said...

I am grilling romaine tonight, if I like it this will be my next recipe to try! I love the idea of bacon-balsamic vinaigrette!

Laura said...

I've never had grilled lettuce. This is something I will try some time. Everything's better with bacon, right?!

Cheese Curd In Paradise said...

I have made a similar recipe and it is so good. I like the sub of goat cheese too!

Sarah - The Home Cook said...

I've never tried grilling salad - I use a charcoal grill and I worry it would get too hot but I REALLY want to make this because it looks incredible!