Back to reality - kind of

How do I even follow up a series of amazing cake baking and decorating?  I go back to normalcy.  As normal as spring break is in unseasonably warm weather.  Thank you weather gods for not making me feel so terrible about my lack of a tropical vacation.

Warm weather makes me a happy girl!  Sun on my skin (with sunscreen of course), windows open, flowers blooming, long runs outside, and grilled food.  Mmmmmmm.  Too bad it's only spring break, and I have to go back to school in a few days.  Oh well, I'll take my mini vacay any day.

This is NOT another boring house salad - promise!!!!

Towards the end of last summer I started to hear about this crazy thing called a "grilled salad".  You grill lettuce, and eat it.  What the what?  Naturally, I was curious and decided the first grill out of the year would be an appropriate time to try this out.  (Side note - I had extra lettuce to use in the crisper, if this experiment turned out horrible).  Josh came home from work and was very skeptical, rightfully so.  Normally I hate it when lettuce gets warm and soggy, like in leftover subs, or mexican food.  Gag me.  And I was about to do this on purpose?  Yep!

To start I bought 3 heads of romaine lettuce and sliced them in half (leave the ends on)

Next I drizzled them with 1 t of olive oil and 1 t of lemon juice each.

Then I put them on the preheated grill, for 3 minutes.

I was scared to do this too close to the flames, but I would move them down a rack next time to get them more charred.  The result is a crisp (yet slightly warm), smoky lettuce.

mmmm doesn't that look good

I chopped the romaine heads up and added a few cherry tomatoes and my new favorite caesar dressing.  The simpleness of this salad really enhanced the smoky lettuce flavor.  I loved it!  This will definitely be a new regular side for nights we grill out.  I think the flavor combinations are endless for the salad and dressings.

Charred lettuce - who would have thunk it?

Question of the day - 

What's one new thing you want to try to grill this summer?