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Grilled Romaine Salad with Crimson Pears and Candied Walnuts
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This Grilled Romaine Salad with Crimson Pear and Candied Walnuts is loaded with flavor and color! The salad is simple + delicious.
We use blue cheese dressing, but you can switch it up and make it your own. You won’t believe how delicious grilled romaine is!
Call me crazy, but I may never have a salad that is NOT grilled ever again.
Grilled Romaine is it.
The char and smoky flavors that are imparted with a quick sear on the grill is incredibly tasty and completely worth it. It actually doesn’t take much effort; just slice your romaine in half with the core intact, brush with a splash of olive oil, and place on a hot grill for under a minute. Easy peasy!
I topped mine with ripe and delicious crimson pears from Still Water Orchards (thank you Vons, for carrying California fruit!) and a smattering of candied walnuts. Talk about a ton of flavor that is perfect for California summer evening dinners.
I went a step further and added some Point Reyes Blue Cheese (TIP: Freeze the blue cheese block for about an hour and use a standard cheese grater to add finely shredded blue cheese to this dish) from Farmstead Cheese Company. The sharpness of the cheese and the tender bite from the pears is a glorious combination.
If you are lucky enough to find these Crimson pears in your local grocery store or farmer’s market, please do yourself a favor and throw a couple in the cart. Not just for this salad, but to snack on! The texture is firm and holds it’s shape well when cut. But, the color is the crowning characteristic! When you can eat something that is not only tasty, but beautiful?
That’s when you know you’re California livin’.
Let’s make this Grilled Romaine Salad step by step:
I chopped off the leafy tops of the romaine to prevent those tender ends from becoming too charred.
I brushed the cut halves with a bit of extra virgin olive oil to ensure a nice char once the lettuce hits the hot grill.
Can you even stand the beauty?
Top the warm lettuce with the matchstick-cut crimson pear.
Toss the candied walnuts over all…
Top with grated or crumbled blue cheese, black pepper and your favorite blue cheese dressing (pssst, here is mine) and enjoy!
Serve individually as a wedge style salad –
Or serve chopped style!
Everyone will love this grilled romaine.
Either way, I promise this will be your new favorite summer salad!
Enjoy!
Grilled Romaine Salad with Crimson Pear and Candied Walnuts
Ingredients
- 3 romaine hearts
- 1 crimson pear cut into thin matchsticks
- 8 ounces candied walnuts
- 2 ounces blue cheese crumbled
- black pepper to taste
- Blue cheese dressing to taste
Instructions
- Preheat grill to medium high
- Remove the leafy tops of the romaine and cut each heart in half
- Brush each half liberally with olive oil
- Place each half face down on the hot grill for about a minute until there is a char on the surface of the lettuce
- Place the grilled lettuce on a platter – remove core if desired
- Top the lettuce with the pear, walnuts and grated blue cheese
- Drizzle the dressing over the ingredients, and top with cracked black pepper
Nutrition
Try this too: Amanda’s Simple Italian Grilled Romaine Salad:
Amanda from Heartbeet Kitchen tops the salad with lemon and Parmesan – no matter what, grilled lettuce is fabulous!