Few things scream “summer” to me as much as grilling out … and ice cream and while I love both enough to indulge in them year-round, summer is really when they hit their stride, as I enjoy them both almost daily. Yes, that’s correct, I grill and eat ice cream almost every day in the summer – and I’ve experimented with both quite a bit. Over the next few weeks, I’ll share some of my favorite, outside of the box, grilling and ice cream recipes – since once you know the basics, it’s fun to experiment with flavors and techniques.
Let’s kick it off with a salad! Whether you use a gas or charcoal grill, this grilled Caesar Salad is easy – yet impressive – my favorite kind of recipe. I love to put unexpected spins on classics and make people think “wow, I want to try to make this” even if it’s a dish they’ve had a million times.
At its most basic level, grilling is a form of caramelizing; caramelizing is the process of bringing out sugars from food to further develop the flavor – so why not apply that concept to lettuce – a food that isn’t typically thought to be grilled – nor caramelized for that matter. What you get is a deeper flavored salad…and a conversation piece for your next cookout. Enjoy!
Grilled Caesar Salad
Prep Time: 20 min
Makes: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 2 HEARTS ROMAINE LETTUCE, CUT IN HALF LENGTHWISE
- 4 CHICKEN BREASTS
- 3 THICK-SLICES, ARTISAN BREAD
- 1 LEMON, CUT IN HALF
- SALT & PEPPER, TO TASTE
- OIL OLIVE, AS NEEDED
- ¼ CUP PARMESAN CHEESE
- 1 CUP CAESAR DRESSING (STORE-BOUGHT OR USE THE RECIPE BELOW)
Ingredients
- 2 ANCHOVIES (OPTIONAL)
- 2 GARLIC CLOVES
- 3 TBS GRATED PARMESAN CHEESE
- JUICE OF HALF OF A GRILLED LEMON (FROM ABOVE)
- 2 EGG YOLKS
- ½ TSP DIJON MUSTARD
- SALT & PEPPER TO TASTE
- 1/3 CUP EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
Directions
- Heat grill to medium-high, leaving one side of the grill on low heat in case items need to be moved to avoid burning on the higher heat side
- Drizzle cut side of lettuce, plus chicken breasts, cut slices of bread and lemon halves with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper
- Place all above items on the heated grill, with chicken at the hottest part and lettuce, bread, and lemon on surrounding spaces. In order of the shortest grilling time:
Grill bread for about 2 minutes, flip and remove completely after another 1-2 mins
Grill lettuce, cut side down for about 2-3 mins until lightly charred, remove
Grill lemons, cut side down for about 3-4 mins, remove
Grill chicken until done, flipping midway after approx. 3 mins per side, based on the thicknes - If making your own dressing, combine all the dressing ingredients listed above into a food processer in the following order:
“Dry” ingredients (anchovies, garlic, Parmesan, salt, and pepper) combine until mix and paste begins to force
Add “wet” ingredients (juice of lemon, 2 egg yolks, Dijon mustard) and mix for a few pulses until eggs are evenly dispersed
With the processor running, pour olive oil into the mixture in a slow, steady stream. The dressing will start to thicken up in about 2-3 mins of mixing - Cut grilled bread into crouton-sized pieces
- “Plate up” by smearing about ¼ cup dressing on the bottom of each of the 4 plates. On each plate, place 1 piece of grilled Romaine on top of the dressing, slice, and plate grilled chicken breast next to lettuce, top with croutons and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese, and a wedge of the grilled lemon, serve immediately
