Salad on the Grill

Last night my friend Tom and I had a "blind box" cook-off.  His friend Tish had given him a bunch of produce from an event she was catering, and I had some things left over from a series of cooking classes I did over the weekend.  So we pooled our resources to come up with an improv dinner. We started out with pretty grand plans (well, he did; my plans are never really all that grand).  Perhaps it was my powers of persuasion or maybe his fatigue after working all day, but we ended up with a delicious grilled romaine salad.

When I was a student in the Natural Chef program at Bauman College, I ended up "pulling the short straw" on many occasions, and got the "improv salad" as my assigned recipe.  While it got more than a little old for me, my classmates were  impressed with every concotion I threw together, and one of them dubbed me "The Salad Queen."  This salad is my absolute fave....

Fire up the grill and while it's heating up, thinly slice some onions.  Heat a bit of olive oil in a large skillet and when it's good and hot, add the onions. Let them hang out until they get nicely browned, tossing (if you're Tom) or stirring (if you're me and not as fancy-pants) occasionally. In a separate (dry) pan, throw in a couple handfuls of roughly chopped walnuts. After a few minutes of toasting, add some bleu cheese (Pt. Reyes is my preference; it's local and it is perfect creamy goodness).  Saute until melted and take off the heat.

While the onions and nuts are cooking, place the peppers on the grill.  If you can get these little guys, they work perfectly for a salad...

While the peppers are cooking, cut the romaine in half lengthwise, keeping the ends in tact.  Brush the cut side with olive oil and place cut side down on the grill.  Close lid and cook for 3-4 minutes until charred on the cut end.  I normally pull them from the grill then, but I think he flipped them and cooked a couple more minutes..... that works, too.

Then start layering on the flavors. Lay the romaine halves on plates and top with the peppers.

Pull the onions off the heat and add a good drizzle of balsamic vinegar.  Keep your face out of the way, because when vinegar hits a hot pan, it's a serious thing - no flames, but some big-time potent fumes!  Pour the balsamic onions over the peppers and then top with the oh-so-delicious walnuts & bleu...  

Serve with a baguette and you are good to go!  It's surprisingly satisfying, but if you need a little more for your dinner, you can bump it up with a some grilled chicken or pancetta.

Seriously, you've got to try this one!