Gluten Free Grilled Lettuce Salad Recipe

I like to re-think old classics. Take the iceberg lettuce wedge. This is one classic that has made quite the comeback. Icy cold wedges of lettuce topped with creamy blue cheese dressing. Nothing wrong with that except that iceberg lettuce has pretty much no nutritional value (or flavor) and blue cheese is a problem for us gluten intolerant people.

So instead of ice-cold, tasteless lettuce with goopy, gluten injected dressing, how about grilled romaine and endive wedges with balsamic syrup and olive oil topped with a crumbling of goat cheese?

If you have never grilled lettuce you are in for a treat. The grilling brings a little sweetness to lettuces that are normally bitter, such as radicchio and Belgian endive.

This Gluten Free Grilled Lettuce Salad Recipe is a great side dish for a barbeque and wonderful for entertaining as it can sit. Paired with my eggplant lasagna this makes a super easy dinner for a casual party.

To make this salad I use my favorite cooking vessel – my grill pan. But you can just as easily do this on the grill or even a skillet. You’ll get all that yummy flavor, just not those pretty grill marks.

If you are making this salad on a barbeque then cut the onions in quarters for grilling and slice thinner after they are done – otherwise they will fall through the grill.

I could not get my hands on any radicchio this time but I usually add it as it adds a nice splash of color. If you have some radicchio, just treat it as you do the other lettuces.

The goat cheese is optional so if you don’t do dairy, no worries – leave it out.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe

Gluten Free Grilled Lettuce Salad Recipe

Prep Time25 mins

Cook Time20 mins

Total Time45 mins

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Servings: 6 servings

Calories: 114kcal

Author: Gluten Free & More

Ingredients

• ▢ ½ cup balsamic vinegar
• ▢ 2 heads Romaine lettuce hearts washed and completely dried
• ▢ 2 heads white Belgian endive
• ▢ 1 onion
• ▢ Olive oil
• ▢ Kosher or sea salt
• ▢ Coarsely ground pepper
• ▢ 4 ounces goat cheese crumbled

Instructions

• ▢
  Make balsamic syrup by pouring the balsamic vinegar into a small heavy sauce pan and boil over high heat until thick and syrupy and reduced by about half – about 10 minutes.
• ▢
  Heat a grill pan or barbeque to medium high heat.
• ▢
  Leaving the bottoms attached cut the Romaine lettuce hearts and Belgian endives into quarters vertically. Cut the onion in half vertically. Cut each half into 6 vertical slices.
• ▢
  Brush lettuce and endive quarters with olive oil. Toss onion slices with olive oil.
• ▢
  Grill lettuce quarters about 1-2 minutes on each side. You want them to start to brown but not get too soft. Remove to a platter. Do the same with the endives but depending on their size this may take a minute or two longer on each side. Add to platter with the Romaine.
• ▢
  Grill onion slices until browned and soft – about 5 minutes. Scatter over the lettuce and endive quarters.
• ▢
  Drizzle the balsamic syrup over the lettuce, endive and onions. Drizzle on some olive oil, season with salt and pepper and add the crumbled goat cheese.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Gluten Free Grilled Lettuce Salad Recipe

Amount Per Serving

Calories 114 Calories from Fat 36

% Daily Value*

Fat 4g6%

Saturated Fat 2g10%

Cholesterol 8mg3%

Sodium 92mg4%

Potassium 603mg17%

Carbohydrates 12g4%

Fiber 5g20%

Sugar 6g7%

Protein 6g12%

Vitamin A 18370IU367%

Vitamin C 10.2mg12%

Calcium 109mg11%

Iron 2.6mg14%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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