When I pulled out ANOTHER grilling meal the other night Hubster jokingly told me I should rename my blog “Grilling with Hubster.” Well, at least I think he was joking. I’m taking it that way unless he’s volunteering to do the rest of the cooking… … nothing? That’s what I thought.
I believe I have good reason to be continually requesting things from the grill. We bought our first grill when we moved in together. It was probably $99 from Sears and certainly wasn’t meant to last too long. Every year we’d talk about getting a new one, but we’d put it off. Hubster managed to limp that thing along for years by replacing the burners and grates, until those crafty grill manufacturers up and changed the standard size of the box (and therefore the size of replacement burners and grates). We were at a grill crossroads. This all came on the eve of major life changes. Read more about that here. So we opted to get a very small interim grill, which actually arrived after I vacated our house.
When we finally sold our house in Kansas City, Hubster opted for the smaller of two moving trucks, reasoning that we only had about one apartment’s worth of stuff to take with us. It became apparent after an hour of packing that not everything was going to fit. No worries. We’re very decisive and as we reached the back of the truck and started shoving miscellaneous items from our garage into the cracks, we looked at the grill and knew it wasn’t coming. We did not weep over this decision.
When we finally moved back into a space that was all our own, a grill was high on the list of things to buy. Finally we got a little lucky with the economic downturn, and Lowes had last year’s models up for deep discount. So we picked up a real, high BTU, man’s man grill. If Hubster were writing this post he could probably tell you way more about the specs. All I know is that he mentioned that we had enough space to also grill vegetables. Wha??? Enough said. So, yes, this is another grilling meal but I’m chalking the whole thing up to fate … and maybe Hubster opening a can of worms he didn’t know existed. 
This particular grilled vegetable is amazing! The lettuce sucks up all of the smokey flavor you want when you’re eating something grilled. We’re probably going to make this again soon because I literally inhaled my pieces and could have eaten more.
Grilled Romaine Salad
Adapted from Cooking Light’s Grilled Romaine with Creamy Herb Dressing
2 Romaine hearts
Olive oil
Parmesan cheese
Salt
Pepper
Light Caesar dressing
Slice Romaine hearts in half vertically. Brush cut side with olive oil. Grill, cut side down, for about 2 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese, salt and pepper. Drizzle with salad dressing.
Notes:Hubster thought there was a bit too much heart so I’m going to try using a full head of romaine lettuce next time. You can use any kind of dressing here. I was in the mood for Caesar, but it would work just as well with ranch, Italian or a vinaigrette. If you find a combo you really like, let me know.
Serve with: Your favorite grilled meat and a starch. We opted for thick cut pork chops with a secret family rub and risotto.
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