Grilled Romaine & Vegetable Salad by Foodie’s Chef Laura Brennan
June 16, 2022
Fire up the grill! It’s Father’s Day! This is a beautiful and simple grilled salad that can be made ahead. Prep the vegetables and get out
there before the meats go on the fire—you can even prep the veggies the night before and wrap and refrigerate. The surprise here is the grilled romaine hearts—the bit of char gives a depth of flavor to the humble romaine.
- Prep: 1 hrs
- Cook: 1 hrs
- Yields: 6 to 8
Ingredients
1 package of romaine hearts, 3-pieces each package
1 small red onion, peeled
1/2 Vidalia onion, peeled
6 plum tomatoes, ripe but still firm
1 seedless cucumber, washed and dried
2 medium-sized zucchinis, washed and dried
2 medium-sized yellow squash, washed and dried
1 red bell pepper, washed and dried
1 green bell pepper, washed and dried
1-6-inch piece of baguette or 2-3 slices of other thick-cut bread
Optional: 1-2 large cloves garlic, peeled
1 piece of Halloumi cheese, 8-9 ounces (or substitute feta cheese)
½ cup extra virgin olive oil, divided, plus more as needed
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
1/3rd cup kalamata olives, pitted
1 cup prepared vinaigrette for serving alongside (I used balsamic vinaigrette that I ‘doctored-up’ by adding a teaspoon of grated orange peel, a few tablespoons of orange juice and a ½ teaspoon of dried
oregano (use fresh if you have it!)
Directions
Start by charring and roasting the two bell peppers. Turn them over and over on the grill until they are evenly charred on all sides. Remove to a bowl and let sit and steam. Use this waiting time to prep the rest of the ingredients.
Grab two or three sheet pans to use for holding all your prepped vegetables. Begin with the romaine hearts. Trim off the root end from each head and cut in half lengthwise. Lay them out on one of the sheet pans - you’ll have 6 pieces. Set aside.
Cut the tomatoes in half lengthwise and gently squeeze out the seeds. Try not to split/crush the tomatoes. Put on the sheet pan with the lettuce, cut side up.
Trim both ends of the cucumber and cut it into 3 pieces. Cut each piece in half, lengthwise, and then cut into quarters—you’ll have 12 pieces of cucumber. Remove to a sheet pan.
Again, trim the ends off the zucchinis and summer squash. Cut in half and then into quarters. Put them on the sheet pan.
Slice the onions across into ½-inch slices. Put them on the sheet pan.
If using baguette bread, sliced in half lengthwise (remove the ends first). Place on a sheet pan.
Finally, pat the Halloumi cheese dry. My piece was a thick-block-shape. I cut it in half through its thickness, to give me two thinner pieces. Set aside. (And I haven’t forgotten about the kalamata olives—we will use them as a garnish at the end.)
Start Grilling!
First, grab your serving platter. You can build your platter as you grill. Lightly and I mean lightly brush olive oil on both sides of all the prepared veggies and lettuce. If you use too much oil, the oil will drip onto the flames and flare up and burn the vegetables. LESS is BETTER!! Next, with the exception of the Halloumi cheese (it is already salty), LIGHTLY sprinkle kosher salt on all the cut veggies and lettuce. Both sides. Again, LESS is BETTER!
Start grilling the lettuce. Lightly char each side and remove to the platter. The charred lettuce will be on the bottom. Be sure to arrange it over the bottom of the dish. And then lay the rest of the grilled veggies (the onion slices, the tomatoes, the zucchini, the yellow squash, and the cucumbers) on the grill. Depending on the size of your grill, you may have to do this in a few batches. Lightly char each side. Be patient and watchful. Stand there with your tongs and turn things over to get a ‘good grill’. Arrange the vegetables on the platter on top of the charred lettuce.
Rub the skins off the charred bell peppers. Open them up and remove all the seeds. Some cooks run the peppers under water during this cleaning process, but I think that rinses away the flavor. Instead, I hold my hands under running water to rinse off the seeds and the skin without holding the pepper under the running water. Cut or tear the pepper pieces into strips and add to the platter of grilled veggies.
Grill the bread, when charred, remove the pieces to a cutting board so you can cut it into smaller chunks. I also like to rub a clove of garlic over the grilled bread before I cut it into pieces.
Char the Halloumi cheese and remove the pieces to a cutting board with the bread.
Slice the bread into chunks and tuck the pieces around the edges of the platter. Cut the grilled Halloumi cheese into strips and then cut the strips into cubes. Sprinkle the cheese cubes over the platter.
Sprinkle the pitted kalamata olives on top of everything.
Drizzle the finished platter with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil - it’s a chef’s finishing touch.
Present the finished platter with a bowl of prepared vinaigrette on the side.
