With summer almost here it’s time for more salads and one of my all time favorites salad is a Grilled Romaine with Gorgonzola Yogurt Dressing. Grilling a salad may sound counterintuitive but hearty and crunchy romaine is up to the task of being grilled on the powerful BTU’s of a Bull Grill.
Grilling the romaine adds a lot of flavor to a usually less than flavorful member of the lettuce family. There are a few things to remember when grilling the romaine that will really help it come out amazing!
- Don’t completely cut the stem off. It’s important to leave as much of it as possible so that your leaves don’t fall off during the grilling process.
- Press down gently on the romaine to get beautiful Bull Grill marks on your lettuce.
- I use avocado oil spray on my lettuce before cooking because of the high smoke point and because it gives a great flavor to the salad. Make sure you coat the romaine evenly without soaking it.
- The salad toppings are endless but to really make this salad pop I always use bacon, cherry tomatoes, roasted corn, and gorgonzola.
Grilled Romaine
Ingredients
- 2 heads of fresh and firm romaine lettuce
- sea salt
- one medium lemon cut in half
- avocado oil spray
- bacon, cherry tomatoes, roasted corn, and gorgonzola salad toppings
Instructions
- Make sure grates of Bull Grill are clean and oiled, turn to medium high
- Trim the top and bottom of the romaine and remove dead leaves. Cut romaine in half lengthwise.
- Liberally spray lettuce halves with avocado oil spray. Squeeze fresh lemon juice over each half. Then sprinkle each half with sea salt.
- Grill for 3 minutes, cut side down, pressing with your tongs to make sure the lettuce gets a good sear. Flip and grill for one of 2 more mintues.
- Remove from grill. Sprinkle with more salt.
- Top with our Gorgonzola Yogurt Dressing and bacon, cherry tomatoes, roasted corn, and more gorgonzola.
Chef Anthony Pro Tip – Choose romaine that is firm and fresh, this will ensure that you still have a crunchy salad.
One of my favorite blue veined cheeses to use in a dressing is a robust and aromatic gorgonzola. Normally when making a creamy salad dressing most chefs use a rich calorie laden mayonnaise. However, I love substituting mayonnaise with an equally rich Greek yogurt cutting the calories and fat dramatically. To round out our Gorgonzola Dressing I always add a handful of Bull Grill grilled onions and roasted garlic (checkout out nifty tool below), that due to the cooking and caramelization process leave a mouthwatering sweetness.
Chef Anthony Pro Tip – Nothing quite matches the flavor of roasted garlic which is one of the reasons why i love using our Cast Iron Garlic Roaster & Squeezer Set.
Gorgonzola Yogurt Dressing
Ingredients
- 1/2 up crumbled gorgonzola cheese
- 1 cup non fat plain Greek yogurt
- 1 small onion grilled and sliced
- 4 roasted garlic cloves
- 1/2 medium lemon
- 2 tbsp white vinegar
- 1 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor until throughly blended.
