Yeah, I know. It's fussy work to eat, and why are restaurants making you cut up your own salad anyway? But it makes a simple, elegant first course or an easy main event.
Good cooking is about the presentation as much as the flavor. Ditch the bagged salad and give this a shot.
Ingredients:
1 head of iceberg lettuce
1 pint of cherry or baby tomatoes
3 strips of bacon, cooked or pre-cooked
1 stalk of leeks
Creamy dressing (ranch, blue cheese, etc.)
Preparation:
Fire up the grill or stovetop grill-pan and heat to medium-high. Wash and dry lettuce, remove the core, and cut the head into quarters. Cut the tomatoes in half. Thinly slice the leeks. Crumble the bacon.
Cook & Serve:
Grill the leeks until slightly wilted and brown on the edges. Place the quarter-of-a-lettuce-head wedge flat-side down on the grill for 1 minute or so until lightly charred (do both flat sides). Place wedge on a plate and cover with tomatoes, bacon, leeks and dressing. ANOTHER OPTION: For a main course, add sliced strip steak.
A Little Backstory:
I had a great Home Ec teacher in the 1980s (do they even teach Home Ec anymore?) who always said "consider the presentation." Your plate should have a variety of textures, shapes and especially colors to be appetizing and soul-soothing. I'm sorry, but a meal of white mashed potatoes, gray-ish chicken breast, a tan biscuit and white gravy makes me want to curl into the fetal position and weep.
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