Grilled Lemon

Today for lunch at Mah Jongg I braved ordering the special salad of the week. Usually I have to greatly modify the offering to make it something I would want to eat, but today the special was a grilled salmon salad nicoise, so I just went with it.  
Of course I did modify it somewhat asking for a grilled lemon in place of the truffle oil dressing. I can hardly stand much oil in a dressing these days. Oil is something that has been easy to give up, along with mayonnaise. I wish sugar was as easy. If I taste something with oil I don’t immediately start to crave it, instead I am repulsed by it, but if I eat something sugary it kicks my sweet carving into high gear. I digress.  
Today I want to praise the yummy deliciousness of a grilled lemon. I don’t know what it is about the slight caramelization of that tart fruit, but it makes a fabulous dressing all on its own. It is bright, but not sour.  
Salad really just needs some moisture, that is all that dressing is. Yes, it adds flavor, or over powers the tastes of the food in the salad. A grilled lemon squeezed all over the salad just improves the beautiful taste of the food on the plate.
Speaking of squeezing, I have to give a shout out to my army of lemon squeezers. I have a skin allergy to the juice in citrus fruit. I can eat it all day long, but I just can’t touch it and certainly can’t squeeze my own lemon. My friend Christy squeezed by lemon today. It is one thing to do a wedge for iced tea, but squeezing the juice from a whole grilled lemon was a big messy job. Thanks Christy.
I think I need to keep wet naps in my purse to give to my squeezers so at least they don’t have to be sticky on my account. I really appreciate the help because the number of calories I save skipping the dressing and going with lemon is significant.  
To make a grilled lemon just cut the fruit in half and place cut side down on a hot grill, grill pan, or a frying pan will even work. Let it sit there unmoved for at least two minutes or until the cut side gets some black marks. That’s it. You can grill them in advance and keep them in the fridge, but lemons are juiciest right off the heat. Trust me you will never miss the oil if you replace your dressing with grilled lemon.