Grilled Lettuce - Ridiculous? No Lucious!

When I stumbled upon a recipe for grilled romaine lettuce I was skeptical, but intrigued. I began to think about what grilling does to other vegetable like squash and eggplant. I know grilling lettuce sounds crazy, but let me tell you, it diminishes the bitterness and intensifies the flavor. Of course I started to think, now ok, what can I do with grilled romaine? Below you will find a basic recipe and some really great ideas on how to enjoy it!

Buy baby romaine because they work the best. Slice them lengthwise down the center leaving some stem on both pieces to keep the lettuce in tact. Wash the heads and dry them. Lay them on a cookie sheet heads up and season the lettuce. Drizzle some good olive oil, salt and pepper them and you can even squeeze some lemon or lime on top, but that's optional.

Warm your grill on high, place lettuce seasoned side down on grill and cover the lid. Cook for 5 minutes, flip them and do the same for this side. 5 minutes. Return to cookie sheet.

Now for the good stuff! Here are some great ideas on how to use grilled lettuce.

• As a side dish with additional lemon.
• As a base for an all in one salad meal. Cut into bite size pieces and add grilled chicken or shrimp with your favorite dressing.
• Sprinkle with your favorite things like bacon, pine nuts, feta, asiago, parmesan, corn salsa, crumbles hard boiled egg or just about anything you are brave enough to try!
• Separate leaves and use for lettuce wraps.