This week's recipe came from Cindy Ruth of Baked Alaska. The actual recipe she gave us was for "Grilled Romaine Salad with Citrus Caesar Vinaigrette" but I ended up switching the main ingredient.
It's gotten hot here in NC - hot enough to make the lettuce plants in my garden bolt, and I used the last of my romaine for last week's shrimp salad. The only lettuce at the Farmer's Market was loose leaf lettuce, not suitable for grilling, but when I saw this beautiful radicchio, I knew it would work perfectly for this recipe.
I fell in love with grilled radicchio in Venice. Lots of places serve it there and in fact, the first place radicchio was cultivated was in the Veneto region of Italy during the Renaissance. Most of the radicchio in US grocery stores is the round kind that looks like a small purple cabbage (Radicchio di Choggia) but most restaurants in Venice serve the elongated variety (Radicchio di Treviso).
The radicchio I found at my market was the same shape as the Treviso variety but was only purple on the ends. I'm not sure but it might have been harvested young before it had time to turn completely purple. Anyway, it was wonderful grilled for this salad.
I love the citrus vinaigrette recipe too. I cut the oil back to a little under half a cup and instead of croutons, I put a few pine nuts on top. The sweet little Sungold tomatoes were the first to ripen in my garden; tomato season is finally here, yay!
Thanks Cindy Ruth for an excellent recipe.
Cindy Ruth's recipe is below. Links to other Sunday Salad Sampler participants can be found here. Next up is Marcia's Grilled Chicken Salad with Tarragon Pesto.
Cindy Ruth wrote:
I adapted this recipe from one I found on FoodTV. One substitution that I often use when making this is to substitute part of the olive oil in the dressing with lemon-infused olive oil. It's not necessary to do it, but if you happen to have some of the delicious lemon olive oil, this is a great place to use it.
GRILLED ROMAINE SALAD
Serves 4
2 heads romaine lettuce
Extra-virgin olive oil
Citrus Caesar Vinaigrette, recipe below
Parmigiano-Reggiano
Chopped tomatoes
Homemade croutons, if desired
Preheat grill to med-high.
Rinse and pat dry the lettuce. Cut the 2 heads in half lengthwise. Brush surface wtih olive oil and grill about 4 to 5 minutes total, turning occasionally. Place each wedge on a salad plate and drizzle with Citrus Caesar Vinaigrette. With a vegetable peeler, shave some pieces from a wedge of Reggiano-Parmigiano over each salad. Top with chopped tomatoes and homemade croutons and serve.
CITRUS CAESAR VINAIGRETTE
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons anchovy paste
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Place all ingredients in a pint jar with a lid. Secure the lid, then shake to blend. Store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Comments (4)
Hi Annie, your salad looks really delicious. I love the little tomatos and pine nuts that you put on it. How great that you grow a lot of your own vegatables.
I agree! This is a wonderful recipe. Can you believe this is the first time I have grilled a vegatable. I loved it.
Thanks for sharing and have a great Sunday evening!
Posted by Kathy (Trekcapri) | June 21, 2009 6:25 PM
Posted on June 21, 2009 18:25
Using radicchio sounds really good. I've never seen the elongated variety before. I have the round growing in my garden this year. I've never had it grilled and have seen it in many Italian cookbooks and wanted to try it. Thanks for the idea of using it in my salad.
Posted by Cindy Ruth | June 21, 2009 9:48 PM
Posted on June 21, 2009 21:48
The radicchio looks so pretty and fresh! Tried looking for this variety but didn’t find it. I thought Whole Foods may carry it but they don’t. Maybe I’ll find it in Atlanta next week.
Great idea on using pine nuts. I don’t particularly like croutons and didn’t think of adding anything in its place.
Posted by María I. | June 22, 2009 7:03 PM
Posted on June 22, 2009 19:03
Kathy, that is so cool! Grilled vegetables are addictive, especially in the spring and summer. I'm so glad that you've joined the Salad Samplers.
Cindy Ruth, I think the round kind would be great grilled too but I also love it raw. I went to a restaurant in Venice that roasted it with some kind of soft flavorful cheese tucked in between the leaves; it was great.
Maria, let me know if you find it. I like both the round and the long varieties but it was only a couple of years ago that I could find the long ones here in NC.
Posted by Annie | June 23, 2009 7:53 PM
Posted on June 23, 2009 19:53