Although I've seen recipes where a leafy head of romaine is placed on the grill, I had never tried the technique until last weekend. I'm not sure why I was turned off by the thought of grilled romaine, but let me assure you I'm a grilled-lettuce convert now that I've eaten it.
This salad is amazing! The grill chars some of the leaves until crisp while others are in different stages of wilt. Let the romaine cool a little before tossing it with the other ingredients. I used grilled eggplant and zucchini, but any veggies would be delicious.
You could also toss the greens with grilled fruit, salty cheese, cooked protein, crunchy croutons — really the possibilities are endless. For extra-smoky flavor, grill the lemon before making the vinaigrette. Read on, for the recipe.
Even though I graduated from college six years ago, I still get the end-of-Summer blues every August. There's only one remedy to this sickness: I turn my energy toward hosting a spectacular barbecue. If you experience the same low, consider throwing a barbecue this weekend or over Labor Day. 
Go veggie tonight with this quick Summer pasta salad. It's chock-full of grilled tomatoes, zucchini, pepper, and scallions. Black olives provide a salty brininess to the dish. A simple garlic and red wine vinaigrette coats the pasta and vegetables. This salad tastes great the next day and is easy to pack, so make the whole batch and you've got lunch for tomorrow. Want extra richness? Toss in crumbled feta or goat cheese. For the recipe, 
