Herbed Chicken & Grilled Romaine with Lemon Sauce

Some people will grill anything. And by some people, I mean men.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. There's nothing like the flavor of those perfectly spaced, charred black lines on a piece of meat. But on lettuce...who knew it could be so amazing?!


I wanted to use up the romaine I had bought for my Green Goddess salad dressing post, and I'd been wanting to try grilling it for some time (something I saw awhile back on the Food Network). Despite my distaste for salads, I actually love lettuce. Strange, given it's not all that flavorful, but there are much worse things to nibble on, right?

I wanted to make this meal with tilapia, but Trader Joe's (and this is its one downfall) only stocks salmon, most of which is already seasoned (I HATE buying pre-seasoned meat - it's like cheating on a test in my opinion). So I settled on chicken - always a safe bet.

I had to change several of my plans for this dish; I wanted to have the whole grilled chicken breast on top of the lettuce, but I got impatient waiting for it to grill that I just sliced it up and tossed it in with the tomatoes and sauce. I think that actually improved it, since the chicken sort of soaked up the lemony sauce as it finished cooking, but it didn't turn out as pretty as I would've liked.

HERBED CHICKEN & GRILLED ROMAINE WITH LEMON & TOMATOES

INGREDIENTS

1 small chicken breast, fresh
1 romaine heart, halved lengthwise
1 c. grape tomatoes, whole
2 slices prosciutto, rolled up and sliced
juice of one lemon
salt and pepper
all-purpose salt-free seasoning
1 clove garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
1 T. butter
1 T. olive oil
more olive oil for brushing on the grill pan
chopped fresh parsley

STEP ONE:

Heat a grill pan over medium heat and brush with olive oil. Season the chicken on both sides with salt, pepper, and all-purpose seasoning. Grill on both sides until almost cooked through (still a little pink in the middle). Set aside.


STEP TWO:

Wipe out the grill pan and re-brush with oil. Grill the romaine, seasoning on both sides with salt and pepper, until lightly brown and caramelized on both sides, about 5 minutes per side. Set aside and keep warm.


STEP THREE:

In a skillet, saute the prosciutto until lightly browned. Remove from pan. Heat the butter and oil over medium heat. Saute the garlic and shallots for about a minute. Add the lemon juice and the tomatoes. Slice the chicken breast and return it, with any stray juices, back into the pan. Add the parsley and a little salt and pepper, and saute until chicken is cooked and tomatoes are hot. Serve alongside the lettuce. Enjoy!



The lettuce takes on such a delicious, almost sweet flavor when it's grilled, and the lemon-butter sauce was the perfect accent to the chicken and tomatoes. Next time, I'd leave out the prosciutto, since I don't feel like it really added anything. And I think it actually tastes better uncooked (well, it's already cooked, so it doesn't need anything further to be perfect).

This was a fresh, Spring-y meal that came together quickly and was surprisingly tasty. Definitely give grilled romaine a try if you're curious - it's delish!

Thanks for reading! More soon.