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Published July 29th, 2015
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Tangy Salad Just in Time for Summer
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| By Susie Iventosch |
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| Grilled Romaine with basil-lemon vinaigrette Photo Susie Iventosch |
This dish was on the menu of one of our favorite brew pubs in McCall, Idaho, the Salmon River Brewery. On the menu, it was listed as a grilled chicken Caesar salad, but since we are garlic lightweights, especially for lunch in the middle of the day, we opted for their basil-lemon vinaigrette, and blue cheese crumbles, which was absolutely delicious. This salad can be served as a main dish with the chicken for lunch or dinner, or as a side salad for dinner, with or without chicken. We serve one-quarter head for a side salad, and one-half (or two quarters) for an entrée.
I cooked an extra half head of Romaine to see what it would be like leftover, and it was just great. We served it the next night for our dinner salad, and it was delicious!
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Grilled Romaine with basil-lemon vinaigrette
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(Serves 8 as a side dish, or 4 as a main course)
INGREDIENTS
2 heads Romaine lettuce
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
4-8 strips cooked bacon (one per serving)
Cherry tomatoes, cut in half or quarters (I like about 6 cherry tomatoes per person)
4 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed (one half per serving)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Dressing
8-10 fresh basil leaves
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup extra extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Place basil in a mini food processor and puree until finely chopped. Add lemon juice, vinegar and olive oil and mix until well blended. Adjust with more oil or lemon juice to suit your tastes.
DIRECTIONS
Heat barbecue to medium heat.
Meanwhile, cut heads of Romaine in half lengthwise and trim off just the very end of the stem, keeping most of it intact, so the leaves stay together. Remove any wilted outer leaves. Clean and dry with a paper towel. Lightly brush the cut side and the outer leaves with olive oil and spritz with lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.
Grill Romaine, cut side down first, for 2 minutes, and then turn it and grill the outer side for another 2 minutes. Remove from heat and bring to room temperature.
To assemble, cut each half head of Romaine into half again, or equal to a quarter of a head. Place bacon strip (or you can crumble the bacon, too), tomatoes, and chicken alongside lettuce. Sprinkle blue cheese over grilled Romaine wedge and drizzle with basil-lemon vinaigrette. |
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA