Hey, Hey, Good Lookin'

When Mike and I made the decision to move back to Michigan, one of the hardest parts was leaving behind the awesome people that we met - particularly our friends Jeb and Ashley. They were the first friends that we made as a couple, and quickly became our family in South Carolina. I can't tell you how many weekends in the past year that Mike and I have been sitting around and wishing they lived a lot closer.

One of my all-time favorite things to do is cook, but I love it even more when there's another person around to chop, stir, and taste with. Lucky for me, Ashley is an amazing cook, and I really miss all the time we got to spend in the kitchen together trying new recipes while our husbands were off drinking beer and playing ping-pong doing important things. The last few weeks, my sister and brother-in-law have been staying with us off and on, and it's been really fun having people around again while I'm making messes in the kitchen - and made me miss our Greenville friends even more.

Last week, Kristin and I copied an idea I got from my father-in-law that turned out delicious, so I thought I'd pass it along to you. The idea of grilled lettuce might seem kind of crazy, and it is - crazy good.

Grilled Romaine Salads

Ingredients:

Romaine Hearts
Tomatoes - chopped
Bacon - crumbled/chopped
Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
Parmesan Cheese

Heat your grill to medium-high. Slice the romaine hearts in half, lengthwise. Drizzle both sides with olive oil.

We decided to get a little fancy and make a balsamic reduction, but you could just as easily use it as is. For the reduction, I put the vinegar in a small saucepan, and boiled it down until it was about half the amount I started with. Did I say fancy? I meant super easy.

Grill the lettuce for about two or three minutes a side. You want it to get a little charred, but not totally burnt.

Put the grilled lettuce on a platter, season with the salt and pepper, and scatter the tomatoes and crumbled bacon evenly across all the pieces. Drizzle the balsamic reduction over everything, and top it off with a little freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Delicious!

Ashley - I think you would approve of this recipe, although I wish you guys were here to enjoy it with us! I promise that we are coming to visit you soon!!

On a side note, here are a couple of pics of Anna having some 4th of July fun with her Auntie Kristin.

Happy Tuesday!