It's BBQ season on many points around the globe, and here in The Netherlands, it's a REALLY big deal! The Dutch take to BBQ-ing like a fish takes to water. Dutchies generally believe that there is nothing better to do in warm weather than BBQ. I once stood in line to buy some meat and heard a father say to his child, "We are going to BBQ every day until the end of September as long as the weather would let them."
Grilled Asparagus & Radicchio Salad
2 bunches (about 700 g) of green asparagus
1 whole head of radicchio cut through the middle lengthwise
75 g feta crumbled
1 lemon zested & juiced
50-60 ml about (1/4 c) good quality olive oil
salt & pepper
First things first, please make sure the bottoms of your asparagus are trimmed. The official way to do this is to bend one asparagus and where it breaks, is where you should cut off the rest of all the other asparagus stalks. But you can also just trim off around 3 cm ( about 2-2.5 inches) from the bottom in one cut of you don't want to waste as much. Some people are shocked at how much they throw away. But I use the bottoms for soups & stocks too.
Then you will need to rub some of the olive oil, s&p all over the asparagus to get them ready for the BBQ. You will also want to pour 2 T of oil onto a plate and set the halved radicchio into it, then flip over and season it will salt & pepper. This salad comes together VERY fast because on a hot fire, you only need a few minutes to cook everything through. I make this salad and then leave it at room temperature and serve it after all the BBQ-ing is done.
If your fire is blazing hot, you could burn both ingredients, so be careful to cook it on a hot, but not too hot side of the grill. If you place them on the grill and realize it's super hot, you can remove them, or just keep rolling them around on the grill until they are done. You want them to be soft, but still al dente. It took me about 3 minutes to cook my asparagus on my grill, but everyone's grills will be different because of the coals they use and the heat they reached. Then place the radicchio on the grill cut-side down. You want it to just begin to wilt from the heat and leave some nice grill marks in the end. Flip it once. Then, remove it and take them both back to teh kitchen. On the cutting board, slice all the asparagus in half lengthwise. Slice through the radicchio widthwise, cutting about 1/2 cm (1/4 of an inch) strips stopping just before the tip.
I plated the asparagus first, and dropped the radicchio on top of it. Then squeeze your lemon juice over the top and drizzle the rest of the olive oil over it as well. Let the zest fall all over the top. Add a little bit more salt & pepper and finally crumble the feta on top.