Grilled Romaine Salad with Bleu Cheese Vinaigrette

One of the joys of summer is the pairing of a gas grill and simple recipes. I can’t wait to share with you one of my favorites, a grilled romaine salad with bleu cheese vinaigrette. This salad is the perfect side dish to any main dish made during grilling season.

Why do people grill romaine lettuce?

Let’s start off with answering the most obvious question that everyone is asking. Grilled lettuce? What? I know it sounds weird, but it is amazing. If you love a caramelized, smoky flavor on vegetables, then you will love this! Because grilling romaine lettuce does just that. It brings out a caramelized texture and a smoky flavor to the leaves that will pair beautifully with this dressing.

How to prepare the romaine lettuce for salad?

For most romaine salads, the lettuce is trimmed, cut, and then washed with a salad spinner. And frankly, I never make a salad without a salad spinner, because nobody likes soggy lettuce. But this is the only salad that I make where the process starts backwards, with the washing before the cutting.

In order to effectively grill the lettuce for this salad, I will not be cutting it in the usual way I would prep for a basic salad. That process includes; slicing the romaine in half the long way, trimming off both ends (the core and the tips of the leaf), then chopping the lettuce however thick you want it for the salad you will make. But for this, we will leave the halves intact.

How do you wash romaine lettuce?

​As stated, normally I use a salad spinner. But for this salad, since I will be keeping the leaves intact, I will soak and rinse my whole head of romaine lettuce. It is important to always rinse your vegetables, especially lettuces.

For this grilled salad, simply rinse thoroughly the entire head of lettuce, under running water. Hold the romaine by the core and allow the water to drain off. Tap to remove additional water, and dry on paper towels or spin the water out in the spinner. Now, you’re one step closer to yumminess!

Preparing the lettuce to be grilled

The best part about this salad is that it is so easy to prepare and, other than the dressing, will be done in the last minutes before eating. We’ll chat about the salad dressing in a minute, but let me share with you the easy steps to getting this fresh romaine ready.

Listen carefully, this is a tough one. Ready? Hold your romaine lettuce and slice in half length-wise through the stem end to the tips of the lettuce. Okay, you’re done!  Yup, it’s that easy. After your meat is done cooking, you will have a few minutes to make the salad. While it rests, those minutes will be all you need to grill your leaves and dress your salad.

Let’s grill some lettuce

Before grilling your romaine, brush either the lettuce leaves or the grill grates with a light coating of olive oil. Make sure the grates are clean. When I was grilling my meat, I cooked it on the left of the grill and kept the right surface area clean and ready for the grilled lettuces. 

Place salad face cut side down on hot grill grates and close lid. You can see from this picture that I am not cooking my romaine lettuce where I had cooked our grilled chicken. Grill your lettuce on clean grill grates to get a good sear.

I kept my grill at about 400 degrees over a medium-high heat and allowed the lettuce to cook for about 3 minutes, before rotating it over to the other side.

Rotate the romaine. Allow to cook for 1-2 minutes and then take a peek at how fast they are cooking. Once you are seeing a nice char, and before the edges get too crispy, remove from heat and place on a serving platter.

If you would like to try this recipe and do not have a grill handy, you can use a stove top with a cast iron skillet grill pan with grate lines.

Making the bleu cheese dressing ahead

This creamy dressing is one of my favorite things. My sister came up with this recipe over 30 years ago. Ever since, I have loved this, tweaked it, and enjoyed it many times. I will share the different ways you can change it and make it your own.

The basic ingredients you will need are: canola oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, fresh parsley, and bleu cheese crumbles. You will also add coarse kosher salt and black pepper, to taste.

Begin by mixing your oil and vinegar in a small bowl. Over the years, I have made it with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and it definitely gives it a different twist. The first time you try this recipe, try it classic this way. But you will soon find out that all versions you can create of this dressing are delicious.

Add the fresh squeezed lemon juice. I love to use this lemon squeezer. If you squeeze by hand, make sure to remove any seeds.

Next, finely chop the fresh parsley (this is where having your own little fresh herbs in a garden comes in handy) and add the garlic. I like to use a garlic press for this step, as it is super easy and doesn’t get my fingers smelling of garlic for days.

Now is the time to decide if you want your dressing to be super creamy or like regular vinaigrette. If you want it extra creamy, blend it well in a food processor or blender. Add half of the bleu cheese crumbles and blend again. This will give it the consistency of a creamy caesar dressing. When serving the salad, the other half of the crumbles can be used as a garnish on top.

For a classic vinaigrette feel, simply whisk the mixture together, and add the bleu cheese crumbles into the dressing. Refrigerate the dressing for a few hours, as to give all those yummy flavors time to commingle. 

Enjoying this delicious salad

Everything comes together when it is time to eat. This is such a simple green salad, yet so delicious. Who would have ever thought that you could be thinking about grilling a nice sear onto lettuce? But it is oh-soooo good! 

Variations of the grilled romaine salad

Truth be told, I have not ever tried to grill any other type of lettuce. But I’m not hating the idea of trying a grilled wedge salad made with iceberg lettuce, salty bacon, red onions, and diced tomatoes. This bleu cheese vinaigrette dressing would be amazing over that as well.

This salad can be a full meal all by itself if you want it to. Add a variation of crunchy croutons made fresh from French bread, top with grilled shrimp, or serve with other side dishes while this is the main event. Extra dressing can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. 

I served this grilled romaine salad as a side to grilled chicken, and the vinaigrette is wonderful to dredge the chicken bites through.

I hope you will love this romaine lettuce recipe as much as I do, and have it be one of those summer salads that can enjoyed year after year!

The recipe card

Grilled Romaine Salad with Bleu Cheese Vinaigrette

Yield: 1-1/2 cups

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

A grilled summer salad, served with a tangy bleu cheese vinaigrette that will become your new favorite side to all your grilled meats.

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Ingredients

• For the dressing:
• 1 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice, seeds removed
• 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• fresh ground pepper, to taste
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
• 1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
• 4 ounces crumbled bleu cheese
• For the salad:
• half romaine lettuce, per person
• extra virgin olive oil for brushing

Instructions

1. Begin by making the salad dressing in advance. Combine the oil and vinegar in a small to medium bowl.

2. Add the juice of one large squeezed lemon.

3. Chop the fresh parsley and add to mixture.

4. Peel and chop or press the garlic into mixture.

5. Whisk well or combine in a food processor or blender. Add the salt and pepper to taste.

6. For a creamier dressing, blend half of the bleu cheese in the processor and serve the other half as a topping. Otherwise, if using a whisk, add all the cheese and whisk well.

7. Refrigerate the dressing for several hours before serving.

8. Wash and rinse the romain lettuce. Pat dry with paper towels.

9. Cut in half lengthwise. A few minutes before serving, brush the lettuce halves with olive oil and place face down on a hot grill. Sear on one side for about 2 minutes, checking for char lines before rotating.

10. Rotate to the other side and char for a few more minutes. Remove from heat and place on a serving platter. Drizzle with the dressing and serve immediately.

Do you have a favorite summer salad that you love ? I’d love to know, as I always like to try new things. Tell me in the comments.

Thanks for joining me today. I’d love to have you hang out with me more often, follow along on these platforms.

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