A grilled Caesar salad is a quick and impressive way to get a salad on the table.
You may be asking yourself, “grilled lettuce?”. But I think after you give this grilled Caesar salad a try, you’ll be hooked.
The sweet thing about a Caesar salad is there’s very little preparation. After all, it only requires romaine lettuce, Caesar salad dressing, Parmesan cheese and croutons. It doesn’t get much easier than that! No other veggies to slice or dice. Done!
Not only is the salad easy, but it’s tasty. If the grill is already hot, why not try a grilled Caesar salad? Actually, we only grill the lettuce. Grilled salad brings rustic and somewhat earthy flavors to the table. It’s the perfect start for a great barbeque meal. Add a handful of smoking chips to the grill for a bold smoke flavor.
- 2 romaine hearts
- Caesar salad dressing
- grated Parmesan cheese
- croutons
- shredded mozzarella cheese or Parmesan cheese, if desired
- salt and pepper per taste
- Preheat a grill to medium-high
- Wash romaine lettuce and cut in half, lengthwise leaving the stem intact.
- Lightly spray the cut side with cooking spray and season with salt and fresh ground black pepper.
- Place lettuce cut side down on the cooking grate directly over flames.
- Grill for about 2 minutes or until the lettuce begins showing a slight char.
- Remove lettuce with tongs and place on serving dish.
- Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese and garnish with shredded cheese and croutons.
- Serve with Caesar salad dressing on the side.
Where did the Caesar salad come from?
Did you know that the Caesar salad was created by Caesar Cardini? Caesar was a restaurateur who immigrated from Italy and ran restaurants in the U.S. and Mexico.
Food lore has it, that on the Fourth of July in 1924, Caesar’s restaurant in Tijuana, Mexico ran out of food. In an effort to keep his hungry customers fed, he made due with what was left in the kitchen. Pretty much, all that was left was lettuce and bread along with his usual spices and essentials. The Caesar salad was born.
Of course, the popularity of the salad was due, in part to its simplicity, but it was really the awesome dressing that Caesar created for his salad that made it a hit.
Soon, the Caesar salad migrated north to Hollywood where it became a big hit. Well, when Hollywood celebrities talk, the rest of the nation takes notice. The Caesar salad eventually went global. It grew to such popularity that today, every salad dressing manufacturer has its own version of Caesar salad dressing.
I wonder what Caesar Cardini would have thought of our grilled Caesar salad version of his iconic dish. I’d like to believe that he’d approve.
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