Grilled Butter Lettuce

Here’s a recipe found on The Bitten Word food blog, originally from Fine Cooking Magazine.  This salad is just sprinkled with salt and then laid onto the grill, cut side down, until the greens have a nice char. It’s a very brief grilling, but it brings a great, summery flavor to the salad. Serves 8.

Ingredients:

½ cup buttermilk
¼ cup crème fraîche
2 Tablespoons mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons thinly sliced fresh chives
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Kosher salt
Vegetable oil for the grill
4 large heads butter lettuce, halved lengthwise

Procedure:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk the buttermilk, crème fraîche, mayonnaise, chives, and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt. (The dressing may be made up to 1 day ahead and kept refrigerated.)
2. Prepare a gas or charcoal grill fire for direct cooking over medium-high (500°F) heat. Lightly oil the grill grates.
3. Lightly season the lettuce with ¼ tsp. salt. Grill cut side down until wilted, lightly charred, and the cores are crisp-tender, 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Transfer the grilled lettuce to a serving platter and drizzle with the dressing (you won’t need all the dressing; refrigerate leftovers for 2 to 3 days).
5. Lightly sprinkle the lettuce with salt and serve.