Grilled Hearts of Romaine With Blue Cheese Dressing

Name: Grilled Hearts of Romaine With Blue Cheese Dressing
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 3 h
Total time: 3 h 15 min
Yield: 4 serving(s)
Ingredients: 1 cup mayonnaise; 1/2 cup sour cream; 1/4 cup whole milk, more as needed; 6 ounces crumbled blue cheese, more to taste; 1 1/2 tablespoons finely grated shallots; 1 finely grated garlic clove; 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice; 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper, more to taste; 2 romaine lettuce hearts, bases trimmed but left intact, halved lengthwise; extra virgin olive oil, for brushing; kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper; 4 slices smoked bacon, cooked and crumbled (preferably applewood)

Submitted by hepcat1

"This is such an elegant way to serve a salad, and it tastes so good! I highly recommend taking the time to make the dressing, but I'm sure your favorite store-bought would be good, too."

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Ready In:: 3hrs 15mins
Ingredients:: 13
Serves:: 4

ingredients

For the dressing
1 cup mayonnaise
¹⁄₂ cup sour cream
¹⁄₄ cup whole milk, more as needed
6 ounces crumbled blue cheese, more to taste
1 ¹⁄₂ tablespoons finely grated shallots
1 finely grated garlic clove
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¹⁄₂ teaspoon kosher salt
¹⁄₈ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper, more to taste
For the salad
2 romaine lettuce hearts, bases trimmed but left intact, halved lengthwise
extra virgin olive oil, for brushing
kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
4 slices smoked bacon, cooked and crumbled (preferably applewood)

directions

Make the dressing:
In a medium bowl, stir the mayonnaise, sour cream, milk, blue cheese, shallot, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours to let the flavors develop. Before using, taste and adjust the seasonings if necessary. The dressing will thicken as it sits and may need to be thinned with more milk.
Prepare the salad:
Once the dressing is chilled, heat a gas grill to medium low or prepare a medium-low charcoal fire. (Be sure the grate is hot, too.) Lightly brush olive oil all over the romaine hearts, taking care not to break the leaves. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put the lettuce cut side down on the grate, directly over the heat. Grill until the outer leaves are charred and wilted and the lettuce is warm and just barely tender all the way through to the core, 2 to 5 minutes, depending on the heat of your grill. Transfer the lettuce to a clean platter and let rest for 5 minutes.
To serve:
Place half a heart of romaine, cut side up, on each plate, top with about 2 tablespoons of the blue cheese dressing, or more to taste, and sprinkle with the crumbled bacon. Serve immediately.

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Reviews

This dressing is incredible. I can't believe nobody has rated it yet. Great for any kind of salad or even as a veggie dip.

Colorado Musey

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

hepcat1

<img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/FFF/Switzerland-FFF4.gif"> After growing up in central Wisconsin, I moved to California and spent my 20's and part of my 30's there. I've since moved to the east coast to a small village in Northern Virginia - a huge change! We moved here mainly so we could live in an area better suited to raising children and closer to family. Although it's an adjustment, we really love it here. My husband and I were married in Feb 2003 and had our first daughter, Kylie, in Aug 2004. Our second daughter, Katie, was just born in July 2006. I was an HR Director until I became Mom, and I wouldn't trade this job for anything in the world! I began cooking when I became a stay-at-home-mom, mostly out of necessity. We used to eat out for every meal...and I do mean EVERY meal. When our income was cut in half after my "early retirement", eating out was no longer an option. Therefore, if I was going to continue to eat all the delicious food I was accustomed to, I was going to have to...oh, the horror!!!...COOK IT MYSELF!!! I had grown up baking with my mom, but hadn't actually baked in years and had always left the cooking to her. To my utter surprise and delight (not to mention my husband's SHOCK and delight)...I loved it! Then, to find Recipezaar...well, it's become a much loved hobby and something I'll surely do for the rest of my life! <embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://w186.photobucket.com/pbwidget.swf?pbwurl=http://w186.photobucket.com/albums/x187/kristybernardo/15590867.pbw" height="360" width="360"></embed><a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/album/slideshow/wrapper_logo.gif" style="float:left;border-width: 0;" ></a><a href="http://s186.photobucket.com/albums/x187/kristybernardo/?action=view¤t=15590867.pbw" target="_blank"><img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/album/slideshow/wrapper_viewshow.gif" style="float:right;border-width: 0;" ></a><a href="http://photobucket.com/slideshow?action=landing" target="_blank"><img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/album/slideshow/wrapper_getyourown.gif" style="float:right;border-width: 0;" ></a>

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