Grilled Romaine BLT Salad

My trip to Dole in May has inspired many an inventive salad dish in my house. In the past, I had seen plenty of recipes to grill Romaine lettuce, but never tried it. It was no surprise that I loved it upon trying it out in Monterey. Just a little char and a little warmth on the crisp lettuce goes a long way. It makes a salad feel like more of a hearty dinner.

Try this out next time you are at the grill. It is easy, fast and delicious!

Grilled Romaine BLT Salad
4 pieces thick-cut bacon
1 head Romaine lettuce
2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 C cherry tomatoes, halved
2 green onions, chopped
1/2 C croutons
1 tsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste
Lite Blue Cheese dressing

Bake bacon in oven. Chop into pieces and set aside.

Preheat the grill. Brush whole Romaine head with 1 TBSP olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place on hot grill. Grill 2 minutes on each side, enough to create char marks. Remove from grill.

Heat 1 TBSP olive oil in small skillet. Add tomatoes, oregano and salt and pepper. Saute tomatoes for about 8-10 minutes or until heated through.

Place tomatoes over Romaine. Sprinkle with bacon, green onions, tomatoes and croutons. Drizzle blue cheese dressing over the top.

To serve, cut into chunks and place on plates using a spatula.

If you want to use your grill only, you could skewer the tomatoes, drizzle them with olive oil oregano, salt and pepper and grill them next to the lettuce, until heated through.

If you want to lighten it up a bit, skip the blue cheese dressing. You could add just a small sprinkle of lite blue cheese or gorgonzola.