Grilled Asparagus Salad with White Balsamic Vinaigrette

I was trying to get started on dinner and wanted to do something different (wow what a stretch for me) with my asparagus.  I came up with this nice little salad/side dish with a vinaigrette that was slightly sweet from using a white balsamic vinegar.  I hope you like it too.

Salad Ingredients:
1 head romaine lettuce
3-5 small tomatoes
1 bunch of asparagus
extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt (regular salt is ok to use)
fresh ground pepper

Vinaigrette Ingredients:
1-2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 tsp fresh thyme or marjoram (optional)
3 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Turn the oven on to broil and make sure you are using the top shelf to broil.  Us a cookie sheet or shallow pan to put the vegetables in.
Cut the bottoms off of the asparagus and clean and dry them. Place the in one layer on the pan. Take the tomatoes and cut them open at the top down to just open them into quarters. Lay them open side up on the pan.
Sprinkle the olive oil, salt and pepper over the asparagus and tomatoes.
Put the pan under the broiler until browned. This usually takes 3-5 minutes. Keep an eye on them as you do not want burned, just browned. When they are done, take out of the oven and let them cool down before you use them.

Take the head of romaine and cut into shreds to cover the bottom of the plate you are using for your salad.
When the vegetables have cooled, cut the asparagus into smaller pieces as you like and place them on the bed of lettuce.  Using a spatula ( I have found this the best way for cooked tomatoes), lift the tomatoes off of the pan and place them on top of the lettuce. 

For this salad dressing, it is up to you if you want to add herbs as it works either way.
Combine all the ingredients for the vinaigrette and whisk together.  I use a small bottle and shake it all together.  Pour over the top of the salad and serve. 
Hope you enjoy this as much as I did.