In the summer all I want is a grilled romaine salad, but I don’t want to burn down my apartment, so that is how we came up with the broiled romaine salad.
You get all the charred flavor from a grilled romaine salad, but with almost none of the risk. And if you live in a shoebox apartment like I do, believe me, there is risk
BUT that’s the beauty of this recipe, now I can have grilled romaine all the time.
Plus this is just a delish summer salad. Walnuts, cherries and za’atar vinaigrette? Sign me up please.
The rest of the flavors in this salad is inspired by one of my favorite Brooklyn spots, Hunky Dory, and it is so fresh so clean and the perfect way to wrap up summer. Full deets below!
Table of contents
Ingredients you will need for this broiled romaine salad
All super simple, but super necessary to this salad!
For the za’atar vinaigrette
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1/2 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp za’atar or italian seasoning blend if that’s all you have!
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- salt & pepper to taste
For the salad
- 2 large romaine hearts
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small shallot
- 1/3 cup roquefort cheese
- 1/3 cup walnuts
- 1/4 cup dried cherries
- salt & pepper to taste
How to make the charred romaine
In this recipe, 100% of the “grilled” romaine flavor comes from the oven. It’s super easy, apartment safe, and perfect for a chill five minute dinner. Here are the cliffsnotes on how to make it happen:
- Put your oven on the “high” broil setting.
- Cut the romaine hearts in half, leaving the bottom intact so that the leaves stay together. Brush each side with a light coating of olive oil.
- Place the romaine hearts on a parchment lined baking sheet and broil for 2 minutes, then flip and broil the other side for 2 minutes. Keep an eye on them, this happens quickly. But they should come out looking slightly charred.
How to make the rest of this grilled romaine salad
- For the dressing, finely grate the garlic into a jar, add the remaining dressing ingredients and shake vigorously until a dressing forms. Set this aside.
- While the romaine is broiling, crumble the cheese, chop the walnuts and slice the shallot into thin pieces.
- Once the romaine is out of the oven, use tongs to place the hearts on a serving platter.
- Top generously with the walnuts, cherries, cheese and shallot. Add salt and pepper to taste and then top with the dressing.
- Chop and serve!
FAQs
It’s not mandatory, but I highly recommend it. This fat source is what helps the romaine brown and achieve the charred flavor we are looking for!
Yes, but similar to the above question, you won’t get as good of a char as you are looking for, and that is because of how the surface area is distributed. I love broiling it in big pieces and then chopping it up later.
Yes! But just follow the guidelines of keeping each topping in the same family – think nuts for nuts, cherries for berries, you get the idea!
Looking for other salad recipes?
I got quite a few, and I love them all like my children. Here are a few of my favorite babies:
And that’s it for this lil’ tutorial on how to make broiled romaine salad! If you make it, please tag me on Pinterest or Instagram so I can see! It’s my favorite thing to scroll through stories and see what you all are making.
And of course feel free to leave any questions, comments or reviews! This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you <3
Broiled “Grilled” Romaine Salad
Ingredients
For the za'atar vinaigrette
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1/2 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp za'atar or italian seasoning blend if that's all you have!
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- salt & pepper to taste
For the salad
- 2 large romaine hearts
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small shallot
- 1/3 cup roquefort cheese
- 1/3 cup walnuts
- 1/4 cup dried cherries
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- For the dressing, finely grate the garlic into a jar, add the remaining dressing ingredients and shake vigorously until a dressing forms. Set this aside.
- Put your oven on the "high" broil setting.
- Cut the romaine hearts in half, leaving the bottom intact so that the leaves stay together. Brush each side with a light coating of olive oil.
- Place the romaine hearts on a parchment lined baking sheet and broil for 2 minutes, then flip and broil the other side for 2 minutes. Keep an eye on them, this happens quickly. But they should come out looking slightly charred.
- While the romaine is broiling, crumble the cheese, chop the walnuts and slice the shallot into thin pieces.
- Once the romaine is out of the oven, use tongs to place the hearts on a serving platter.
- Top generously with the walnuts, cherries, cheese and shallot. Add salt and pepper to taste and then top with the dressing.
- Chop and serve!
