Get out your grill to make this quick and easy 5 ingredient salad with grilled romaine lettuce, a lemony vinaigrette, fresh basil and nutty parmesan cheese.
It’s already another 5 Ingredient Friday and we’re grilling this week.
Grilling greens of all kinds has become popular among grilling enthusiasts, and while I’ve been intrigued, I haven’t been willing to jump on the bandwagon. Besides, Mike does most of our grilling and I wasn’t sure I could convince him to put a head of romaine on his precious grill with his beloved steak.
But since I couldn’t seem to get the idea of grilling greens out of my head, I decided to take over Mike’s grill and start with a grilled romaine salad. It seemed prudent to remove the outermost leaves and leave the core intact so my lettuce would hold together on the grill. This was definitely a good idea.
It doesn’t take long for tender leaves to quickly get those grill marks we all love to see, and for the lettuce to start wilting a bit. And since I didn’t want a slimy mess of lettuce, I flipped the romaine after just a few minutes of cooking.
This is my favorite time of year when it comes to using fresh herbs, with basil topping my list. I know you can buy it year around at the markets, but summer fresh is best as far as I’m concerned. Basil with lemon and shaved parmesan cheese is all this salad needs to show off my grilled romaine.
I can honestly say that after this grilling experience, I’m ready to try again with radicchio or endive. I bet both would be terrific.
Happy 5 Ingredient Friday and have a terrific weekend!
~Kristi
Shake It Up!
If you have chicken or beef on the grill, slice it on top to make a protein-packed meal. Pre-cooked salad shrimp would be delicious tossed with the lemon vinaigrette placed on the whole grilled romaine.
Kristi Rimkus
Yields 4
Grilled Romaine with Lemon Basil Vinaigrette, and Parmesan Cheese
10 minPrep Time
6 minCook Time
16 minTotal Time

Ingredients
- 1 large romaine lettuce, Look for a large head of lettuce that is tightly held together. Clean and slice lengthwise into 4 pieces with the stem intact.
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves, slivered
- 8 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, shaved
Instructions
- Preheat the grill to medium heat.
- Prior to grilling shake olive oil, lemon and honey in a small jar to combine. Prepare basil, and place parmesan cheese in small bowl.
- Spray romaine with olive oil cooking spray and grill for 2 - 3 minutes on one side until there are light grill marks, then flip and grill another 2 - 3 minutes on the other side. Do not overcook or your lettuce will be soggy and too wilted.
- Remove romaine from heat and place each on its own plate.
- Sprinkle romaine with dressing, basil and parmesan cheese to serve.
Notes
Food energy: 191kcal
Weight Watchers Smart Points 6
Saturated fatty acids: 5.62g
Total fat: 13.64g
Carbohydrate, by difference: 4.80g
Total dietary fiber: 0.82g
Protein: 11.43g
Total sugars: 2.26g
Potassium: 196mg
Sodium: 410mg
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