On the Grill: Bison Burgers and Romaine

Last night, Bret and I had another fantastic yet simple meal from the grill.  We picked up a package of bison burgers from Whole Foods after work.  I have never had a bison burger before and I was excited to finally try one!

Of course, grilling burgers calls for beer.  Bret and I have been happily indulging in blackberry and pumpkin beer almost every night.  Last night was no different.

I decided to make a simple salad to go with our burgers.  I made grilled romaine salad this past winter on our grill pan indoors and I was excited to make it again on our grill!  I simply cut a head of romaine in half lengthwise.  I brushed some olive oil onto the romaine and seasoned with salt and pepper.

The romaine joined the burgers on the grill and dinner was ready in no time!

The bison burger was really juicy and I loved its gamey flavor.  But the real highlight was the grilled romaine salad, which was served with a drizzle of white truffle oil and a sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese.  Grilling the romaine brings out a totally different flavor and texture to this lettuce!

With simple and flavorful dinners like this, life honestly hasn't been better.  Tell me, what has you smiling lately?

Grilled Romaine Salad

Last week, I read a blog post on my friend Meghan's blog - Travel, Wine, and Dine - about her love of warm salads during the cold winter months.  While I normally eat a salad at least two or three times a week, I actually rarely make or eat a warm salad when it gets cold outside.  I've actually only made a warm salad once - Warm Arugula and Black Bean Salad - and I haven't really thought of making one since then!  Meghan's blog post, per usual, inspired me to think outside of the box and try something new.

I had a few romaine hearts in my fridge and I couldn't get the idea of grilling the romaine out of my head.  I think I was inspired by a contestant grilling some radicchio on an episode of Chopped or something.  I did a search online and couldn't resist the title of this recipe - Ridiculously Easy Grilled Romaine Salad - from Fatfree Vegan Kitchen.  Now, my dairy-loving self normally would not be on a vegan website but now that I've discovered this blog, I will definitely be returning to it for ideas on what to cook for my three-course vegan dinner!

This recipe was truly ridiculously easy!  First, I halved one romaine heart.

I warmed up a grill pan on the stove and sprayed it with cooking spray.  When the pan was hot, I added the romaine heart halves to the pan and placed another pan on top to press the greens down.  I let the romaine grill for about two minutes before turning it over and allowing it to cook on the other side.

When the lettuce had some beautiful grill marks on it, I took it off the grill pan, lightly drizzled some white truffle oil and sprinkled some grated Parmesan cheese and fresh cracked black pepper.  The original recipe calls for white balsamic and pine nuts but you know that I can never stick exactly to what a recipe calls for - even one as easy as this!

Grilling the romaine brought out so much more flavor to the leaves and I seriously couldn't get enough!  The addition of truffle oil and Parmesan cheese brought it to another flavor level that I seriously enjoyed.  This went perfectly with my comforting turkey meatloaf and made a wonderful winter night's dinner.  I'm glad that Meghan's blog inspired me to try a warm winter salad to help me break out of my salad rut!

Do you do any grilling (indoors or outdoors) during the cold winter months?