We're Grillin'

It was clean up the gardens day and power wash the deck/house day at my house last week, that's why I have been missing you all.   Had to get a lot of weeds pulled, brush cleaned up and dirt/moss off the house and deck, after the winter snow and ice.  On days when I am busy outside, that takes all day, I want something easy to fix for dinner.  After cleaning the whole deck, washing all the furniture, decided it was a beautiful day to eat outside.  Outside is my favorite place to be when it's sunny and warm.  I'll eat my three squares out there all Summer and into Fall.

So, since the hubby and I were outside all day, dinner had to quick.  He fires up the grill and I get our meal ready.  I had this grill basket stored in the pantry, I don't think I ever used it!  I have a habit of doing that. I was going to grill up salmon, and thought it would be perfect for that instead of the perforated pan I usually use.  It worked great! Check it out, nothing broke off and fell into the flame and the salmon was grilled perfectly. You don't have to flip the salmon with a spatula, just turn the basket over.  It has a long handle and the basket locks into place, so nothing falls out, and I am sure you will find a lot of other ways to use this basket and cook things on your grill.

Into the grill basket, hit them both with fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper on both sides. I sliced lemon and grilled that too, it caramelizes and becomes sweet not sour, try it!

 Grill 4-6 minutes on each slide.  It's done when it flakes with a fork.  The salmon did not stick to the basket, didn't fall apart, and was perfectly cooked.

 I served it up with potatoes, peppers and onions with olive oil, salt and pepper.  I also cooked them on the grill in foil packets.  In about 20 minutes this whole meal was cooked to perfection and tasted phenom!

Just enough after a hard days work, and easy to prepare!

Everything Is On The Grill!

Cooking dinner is easier in my house these days now that it's warm outside.  I do everything on the grill including all vegetables and breads.  It's fun to come up with new ideas and flavors for meals, it keeps the food interesting and everyone coming back for more.  I made part of this meal easy on myself, I started with a bag of cooked, deveined and peeled jumbo shrimp.  I also made fresh tilapia, a peach salsa, fresh veggies and sliced garlic bread.  This is how I made it -  

A few of my ingredients:  McCormick Lemon Herb Seasoning and McCormick Grill Mates Seafood Rub, a couple of lemons, olive oil, a lime, two peaches (I used white peaches), brown sugar, fresh cilantro, a jalapeno pepper, a red bell pepper and a shallot.

For the Shrimp - Zest the 2 lemons.  Rinse the bag of shrimp in a colander and let it drain. Pour into a bowl, hit the shrimp with 2 teaspoons Lemon Herb seasoning, 2 teaspoons lemon zest, drizzle with olive oil, toss to coat, set aside.

  For the Tilapia - In a shallow pan lay the tilapia out and rub both sides with olive oil then both sides with the seafood rub, set aside.

For the Salsa - Zest the lime. Cut peaches in half and pit them, chop them up, put into a bowl.  Add 1/2 seeded diced jalapeno pepper, a whole one if you like more heat, 1/2 seeded, diced red bell pepper, 1/2 diced shallot, juice of a lime, zest of the lime, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, toss to coat, set aside.

 For the Vegetables - Into a large bowl - 1/2 large sweet onion sliced thick, 1/2 bunch of asparagus, stemmed and cut on the diagonal, 2 sliced carrots (I used bagged, sliced carrots), 2 cups of fresh green beans, 1/2 yellow zucchini, 1/2 green zucchini, 1 small bok choi, trimmed and pulled apart.  Toss with Lemon Herb seasoning, 2 teaspoons lemon zest and 2 tablespoons olive oil, set aside.

For the Bread - I used slices of a rustic Tuscan bread, rub with a peeled garlic clove on both sides, brush with olive oil on one side, set aside.

Now, take all this out to your grill, set the grill to medium - high.  I use the wire basket on the left for the vegetables and shrimp, and the flat grill pan for the fish and salsa.  

To cook:  Get the vegetables started first, they will take longer than anything else to cook.  About 5 minutes into cooking the vegetables, lay the tilapia on the flat pan on one end and the salsa on the other. Wait until the fish gets a light crust on one side then flip it. Crusting the fish on one side will help in holding it together so it does not fall apart.  Use a big spatula made for the grill to turn them.  The tilapia should take about 5 - 7 minutes to cook. Toss the salsa so it cooks evenly.  

Now is the time to put the bread on the top part of your grill, brown on one side, flip it and brown on the other.  You will have to watch it so it does not burn!  Take the vegetables off the grill.  Put the shrimp in the wire basket after you take the vegetables off, squeeze a whole lemon over it when you put it on the grill,  cook for 5 minutes, squeeze the other whole lemon when you take it off the grill.  

This meal fed 4 hungry people with no leftovers!  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.