Grilled Romaine Caesar Salad

I found this great recipe because I was looking for something where I could use croutons that I made from some sourdough that was going stale, when I came across an article on one of my favorite websites, Allrecipes.com, for the "Perfect Meal" from Hoda Kotb on the Today Show.  According to her, the Perfect Meal was a Grilled Caesar Salad with french fries and a dry martini. Personally, a side of fries makes any meal perfect, and my friends would tell you that I often order them with my salads. So I really liked the sound of this and had to learn more.

The Caesar Salad was created on July 4, 1924 by an Italian chef, Caesar Cardini, at his restaurant Caesar's in Tijuana, Mexico. It came about because the kitchen was overwhelmed and short on ingredients. They originally prepared it table-side, and they still do that at his restaurant today. The original Caesar Salad is a salad of Romaine lettuce and croutons with lemon juice, police oil, eggs, Worcestershire sauce, anchovies, garlic, Dijon  mustard, Parmesan and black pepper.

According to Hoda, her favorite way to make it is to slice the head of Romaine in half, drizzle it with olive oil and salt and pepper, then place it on the grill. You'll want to flip it so it grills on both sides. Then take it off the grill, put Caesar dressing and croutons on it and voila. So I did just what she said, and it was terrific. I even sauted some shrimp and shaved some fresh parmesan to add on top.

According to the Allrecipes article, it may sound like a weird technique but "grilling the romaine lettuce adds flavor and texture to the otherwise boring vegetable. When you lightly char your romaine, it begins to carmelize on the grill and brings out a new, sweet, smoky flavor in the lettuce."

Here is the link to the article for more information.

Grilled Romaine Caesar Salad (for 1):

INGREDIENTS:
1 head of Romaine lettuce
1/4 cup Olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
croutons
Fresh shaved Parmesan
optional: a protein such as shrimp or chicken

PREPARTION:
1. Heat the grill to medium high heat
2. Alice the head of Romaine in half, and drizzle it with olive oil and salt and pepper, then place it on the grill.
3. You'll want to flip it so it grills on both sides.
4. Once you remove it from the grill, add croutons, shaved Parmesan and Caesar dressing.
Optional: add a protein. Enjoy!