Today I’m going to show you how to grill lettuce. Lettuce doesn’t seem like a vegetable that you would normally grill, since it wilts easily. However, it is really good on the grill as long as you choice the right lettuce. To grill lettuce that turns out great, you will want a firmer lettuce such as endive and radicchio. These two lettuces can hold up to the searing heat of the grill.
So, let’s get on to grilling some lettuce. The nice thing about grilled lettuce is that you can have it either hot off the grill, or at room temperature. So, it is great to make ahead for a cookout, so you can free up the grill for other foods.
Like I mentioned before, endive and radicchio are great choices for grilled lettuce. Depending upon the size, get yourself 2 small or 1 large head of radicchio, and 2 medium sized endives. Cut the radicchio into wedges. They should be about 1 inch thick at the outside. For ease of grilling so they don’t fall through the grate, I run a bamboo skewer through them to hold the leave together. Here are the skewers I use. It makes it easier to turn them on the grill too. You don’t need to skewer the endive, just slice them in half.
Set up your gas or charcoal grill for direct grilling over high heat. I like to add a bit of smoke to my grilled lettuce, and if you want to do the same I recommend either oak chips. If you are using a gas grill, you can smoke on that as well, you will just need one of these.
Once the grill is ready, place the lettuce on the grate. Grill for about 3 to 5 minutes per side, turning with a pair of long tongs. You will also want to baste the lettuce with some olive oil while it grills. I use silicone basting brushes, they work rather well.
Once the lettuce is done, transfer it to a platter and serve. You can serve these as is, or have them drizzled with some sauce or olive oil. I like to change it up, sometimes with some dressing like Ranch, blue cheese, and other times just with olive oil.
That is how to grill lettuce. It is really that simple to add some more grilled flavors to your cookouts. Feel free to experiment with other lettuces such as romaine. Some lettuces will hold up better than others when grilled, but it is always fun to experiment.
image courtesy of gbergin/flickr