Grilled Lettuce

I can't remember where I got the inspiration for this, but right before we left for the PNW, I was desperately trying to come up with recipes to use up all of the food that would spoil during our trip. In our Bountiful Basket from the previous Saturday, we got this huge head of Romaine lettuce. I had already made TWO salads from it, and had a ton left. My sister was over for lunch, and instead of forcing her to eat a gigantic salad, I decided to try something that had been ruminating in the back of my mind--grilled lettuce. I've been totally into using our grill for everything lately. And I thought that since my kale chips didn't turn out very delicious that I really ought to give roasting leafy green things another chance.

And it was FANTASTIC! Seriously! Grilling the lettuce gave it a fun smoky flavor, and I even kind of liked it warm, which I was not expecting. The recipe said that you could serve it with salad dressing (like Caesar), but I liked it so much plain that I didn't even bother!

All you have to do to get this delicious thing in your belly is slice a head of Romaine lettuce in half down the middle (so there is a flat side). Then drizzle it generously with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The recipe said that the balsamic vinegar was optional, but in my book, balsamic vinegar is never optional. We were also running out of olive oil so I didn't get to use as much as I probably would have liked, but it was still totally good. Then sprinkle the lettuce with lots of kosher salt and cracked black pepper (can use my new birthday pepper grinder for this next time--yum!) and toss it on the grill! I don't really know how to use our grill that well yet so I'm not sure what temperature I cooked it at--just cook it until some parts are slightly charred, like in the photo. Then toss some Parmesan cheese on top once you take it off and enjoy!