Ingredients
Scale
- 2 romaine hearts, cut in half lengthwise
- 1 small bunch asparagus, 12 spears, 1 pound
- 1 lemon, halved
- 1/2 small red onion, end removed and peeled
- 1 – 12 ounce carton strawberries, 15-20 berries or so
- 1/2 ripe avocado, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup chopped pistachios
Fennel Dressing:
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 Teaspoon fennel seeds, or 1/2 Teaspoon ground fennel
- 1/4 Teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 Teaspoon sea salt
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 of the grilled lemon, juiced
- 1 Teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 Tablespoon maple syrup
Instructions
- Wash and thoroughly dry the halved romaine hearts. Remove the woody ends of the asparagus, and set them aside.
- Wash and dry the strawberries, then hull and thinly slice them.
- Preheat a grill over medium-high heat until it reaches a temperature of 400ºF.
- While the grill heats, mash/pound the garlic, fennel seeds, pepper, salt, and olive oil together in a mortar and pestle, until the seeds are completely ground up. Or if you’re using ground fennel, mix together the garlic, ground fennel, pepper, salt, and olive oil together to combine.
- Brush a small amount of the olive oil mixture over the cut side of the romaine hearts. Set the rest of the olive oil mixture aside until the end to make a dressing.
- Place the romaine hearts, asparagus spears, lemon halves, and red onion on the grill and immediately turn down the heat to medium, maintaining a temperature of around 350ºF
- Grill the romaine for 1-2 minutes, just until some browning begins, then turn it over for another 1-2 minutes. You want the lettuce to be only partially wilted with some browning around the edges. Grill the lemon halves face side down and remove them from the grill when they have grill marks.
- Keep turning the asparagus as it browns, and after you’ve removed the lettuce and lemon halves, turn over the red onion.
- Continue to grill until the asparagus is crisp tender, then remove the asparagus and onion, (the onion with still be mostly crisp).
- Finish the dressing by juicing 1/2 of the grilled lemon and adding it to the reserved olive oil mixture along with the Dijon mustard, and maple syrup. Whisk together to combine and set the dressing aside.
- Thinly slice the grilled onion when it’s cool enough to handle. Arrange the grilled lettuce, asparagus, sliced red onion, strawberries, avocado, and pistachios on a serving platter. Drizzle with the dressing or serve it alongside.
- You can also thinly slice the lettuce and asparagus to make the salad easier to eat, when you’re not in the mood to carve it up on your plate.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins