Salad of Grilled Romaine, Shaved Beets, Carrots, and Radishes with Creamy Oregano Dressing

Grilled Romaine tastes great and the textures add a lot to the dish. The shaved roots each bring a different texture, color, and flavor to the salad that play well off each other to please the palate and eye. The dressing brings everything together.

INGREDIENTS:

1 head romaine lettuce, whole, thinner ends trimmed away and halved lengthwise, washed and drained

1 cup radishes, thinly sliced on a mandolin

1 cup carrots, thinly sliced on a mandolin

1 cup baby beets, shaved really thinly on a mandolin

Oil as needed

½ cup white balsamic vinegar

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup water

Large flake salt and pepper to taste

1 cup Creamy Oregano Dressing (See recipe)

½ cup roasted sunflower seeds

METHOD:

Salt the beet slices lightly and allow to rest 15-20 minutes, or until flexible but not floppy. Rinse well until the no longer taste salty. While the beets are resting in their salt bath, blend the vinegar, sugar, and water until sugar goes into suspension. Once the beets are ready, put into the quickling solution and put into the refrigerator. They are ready when they are crisp-tender and are lightly pickled.

Put carrots and radishes into separate bowls of ice water for 15-20 minutes.

Get the grill really hot. Rub the lettuce halves lightly with oil, season with a little salt, and put the cut side down on the grill first. Cook for 3-5 minutes until the lettuce has good grill marks and a little charring. Flip and cook other side. You want 50% to be fresh and crunchy, the other 50% to be charred and marked and to have a grilled flavor.

Remove from the grill and allow to cool. Remove the vegetable garnishes from the refrigerator and drain well. Chop the lettuce into 1-inch strips or squares.

Toss the lettuce with some dressing; enough to lightly coat it. Transfer to 4 plates or a salad bowl or platter. Scatter with the rest of the vegetables, drizzle with a little dressing, and then scatter the sunflower seeds over the salads, the hit with salt and pepper. Serve it up.

Serves: 4

Source: Chef Andrew E Cohen

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