This grilled caesar salad perfect as a light summer lunch or dinner, especially since it brings that great grill flavor that I can’t seem to get enough of in the summer months. Salad is not something that we wouldn’t normally think of grilling, but it is actually incredibly simple and delicious, especially when using hearty romaine lettuce which keeps together and stands up well to a little bit of heat. Topped with croutons and cherry tomatoes – both roasted on the grill of course – and a fresh caesar dressing and shaved parmesan, this grilled caesar salad is a fantastic summery spin on a classic dish.
Caesar salad is synonymous with Italian food; almost ever person out there who has ever eaten in an Italian restaurant has ordered a caesar salad. And being Italian, a good caesar salad is something that I seem to crave, almost as if its in my blood. But interesting enough, its not something we ever really made or ate while I was growing up, especially this version of a grilled caesar salad. But at the heart of any good caesar dressing is the anchovy. And anchovies are something that have been with me – and sometimes haunted me – since childhood. Every friday night we would gather at my grandparent’s house and my grandpa would make pizzas; inevitably there’d be one with anchovies. All my aunts and uncles seemed to fight over who was gonna get that crusty bit of cheese that had melted over the edge of the pizza, soaked with anchovy oil. Thinking it was some sort of edible gold, I convinced my aunt Camille to let me try a piece. To a sever year old’s pallet, an anchovy is pretty much revolting. I spit it out immediately, of course upsetting all my family members who had been pining over it.
Since then, my relationship with anchovies has become a lot more amicable. While I’m still not going to eat them straight from the jar or put them on toast like I’ve seen some people do, I’ve come to realize that a little bit of anchovy as the base of a pasta sauce or dressing can be magical. And anchovies are the key to a great salad dressing for my grilled caesar salad. That’s where this dish begins; anchovies, garlic, and egg yolk in the food processor with olive oil streamed in to create into a smooth, creamy dressing. But the real heart of this grilled caesar salad are the ingredients that get cooked with a kiss of flames from the grill.
Cherry tomatoes roasting in the grill basket.
The romaine, a classic caesar salad base, gets split down the center to keep its hearty form, brushed with olive oil and garlic, and grilled for just about a minute. The leaves get the tiniest bit of char on the edges, but most importantly all of that garlic flavor is cooked right into the lettuce itself. To enforce the grilled flavor, cubes of bread are tossed with olive oil and garlic as well and then cooked in a grill basket until the harden up into crusty croutons – just keep your eye on them because they will burn quick! And to top it all off, cherry tomatoes are roasted on the grill as well, until they are ready to burst with sweet flavor. Assemble your ingredients, top with the fresh caesar dressing (or even a store bought one if you want, just to make it easier) and then sprinkle with some shaved parmesan. All of the ingredients for this grilled caesar salad are infused with the fantastic flavor of the grill, just a little bit of fire that seems to make everything taste better – and exactly like summer.
- For the salad:
- 1 heart romaine lettuce
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 2 slices of crusty bread, cubed or torn into bite sized pieces
- shaved parmesan cheese for topping
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 3 cloves of garlic
- salt and pepper
- ¼ cup cup caesar dressing (recipe to follow)
- For the caesar dressing:
- 4 anchovy fillets
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 small garlic clove
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
- For the dressing: Combine anchovy fillets, garlic, egg yolk, lemon juice, and dijon mustard in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse together until well combined. With the food processor running, stream in olive oil until the egg yolk emulsifies and a thick and glossy dressing is formed. Mix in parmesan cheese and black pepper.
- For the salad: Mince garlic cloves and combine in a medium bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper. Reserve this dressing to top croutons, cherry tomatoes, and lettuce before grilling.
- Roast the tomatoes: Toss cherry tomatoes with ⅓ of the olive oil and garlic dressing. Put tomatoes in a grill basket and roast over medium heat with grill lid closed until softened and slightly blistered, about five minutes. Remove and allow to rest.
- Make the croutons: Toss the cubed bread with ⅓ of the olive oil and garlic dressing. Put in the grill basket and roast over medium heat with the grill lid closed until browned and crunchy, 2-3 minutes. Keep an eye on them because the will burn quick!
- Cut the romaine hearts in half lengthwise down the center and brush with the remaining olive oil and garlic dressing. Grill, flat side down, until grill marks appear, 1-2 minutes.
- Assemble the salad: top each romaine half with cherry tomatoes, croutons, caesar dressing, and shaved parmesan cheese.
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