LET THE GRILLING BEGIN!

It's finally grilling season here in Boston--yup, we finally have summer. For anyone who has seen the absolutely disastrous winter we've had, you'll understand my excitement.

But this post my friends, is all about the vegetables! It was a beautiful day and all I could think about was grilling veggies. These photos are actually the combination of some of my more successful veggie creations this past week. Hope you enjoy! -Cheer, Nate

Heirloom Tomato Salad

Who doesn't love heirloom tomatoes? They're huge, a hit with kids whose jaws will literally drop to the floor at the sight of organic produce, and let's face it, they are full of amazing flavor. I'm pretty spoiled and my office is right next door to a farmer's market. These amazing heirloom tomatoes are from another locally sourced market close by.

This was a super easy cold salad that I made that easily fed two people.

Ingredients:

-1 Giant Heirloom tomato

-One small radish

-Good extra virgin olive oil (or in my case I used garlic infused olive oil)

-Cilantro

-Green Onions

-Fresh ground pepper and sea salt

First cut your tomato into smaller pieces. I usually like cutting my tomatoes in various shapes and sizes but today I was feeling a bit square so I just cut slices and layered them on the plate. Next, drizzle some good olive oil (of your choice) over the top of the tomatoes and cover with freshly ground pepper and sea salt. I can't tell you how much this will make a difference. If you have salt and pepper mills, USE them--or at least try to grind up some salt/pepper corns and sprinkle them over the top. Take your thumb, index, and middle finger and grab what you can from the tops of cilantro and rip off. Chop up the cilantro, and try to get a few stems too for some crunch, then sprinkle over the tomatoes. Last but not least, if you have a mandolin slicer, use the thinnest setting and layer a few of the radishes on top. Voila! Quick, easy, fun, heirloom tomato salad.

Grilled Veggie Spread for Summertime

I was coming out of work and couldn't think about anything else but grilling. I love grilled meats and while I'll spend another post talking about my favorite grilling recipes, let's take a look at these other veggie plates I put together.

(See Below)

Grilled Leek Salad

I love leeks--frankly I love all members of the onion family. So much flavor, and so many different textures you can use. The leeks at my local grocer looked really fresh so I picked up three and decided I'd grill them and make them into another summer-y salad.

Ingredients:

-3 Large leeks trimmed, washed thoroughly

-1-2 green onions chopped

-1/2 lime

-Good olive oil (I used a chili infused olive oil here)

-Small tomatos of your choice (grape or cherry tomatoes would work nicely too!)

-Freshly ground s/p

Slice off the hard dark ends of the leeks, but hold onto them for later because they are great for making homemade veggie or chicken stock. Slice your leeks lengthwise but keep the root intact (don't chop it off)! Take some care to thoroughly rinse each halved leek running your fingers through leek layers to get as much grit and dirt out as you possibly can. If you don't you'll get a mouth-o-dirt later and it's not a fun experience. Brush or drizzle on some good olive oil on both sides, grind up some s/p and let sit in the fridge for a little while if you can bear it. But if not, throw them on the grill. I used a high heat, and started with the round sides down and halved sides up. After about 10 minutes (or once you get good solid grill lines) flip em over. Let them cook for another 10 minutes or until you get good solid grill lines, and take them off to rest for maybe 10 minutes. Give another good glug of olive oil, s/p (if you want) and top with chopped green onion, small tomatoes, and give half a lime a good squeeze over the leeks. Whammy!

Grilled Poblano Salad

I love me some peppers, and I love charring them over an open flame. They just get this great charcoaly, salty, business going on and I can't resist. If you don't have a grill, even if you have a gas stove, you can quite literally put these puppies right on the burners and watch em char themselves into tasty awesomeness.

Ingredients:

-1 small radish

-3 poblano peppers (or less spicy peppers of your choice) Variety of colors will make yours look way more appealing than mine for sure

-Cilantro

-Olive oil

-Freshly ground s/p

Wash your peppers and dry them well. The more wet they are the longer they will take to get charred on the grill. Place them naked on the grill on a high heat. Turn them maybe every 5 minutes or so. Again, you want to make sure you get those nice grill spots/lines on each side before you flip. All in all, the peppers took me a little over 20 minutes because I was hypervigilantly watching and flipping. If you're more patient and don't keep opening the damn lid, you might get these done faster. Let them cool for a few minutes until you can work with them with your hands. I sliced the tops off the peppers, then sliced them length wise three times. You can take the seeds out if you hate them or if it's too spicy. I chose to keep mine cause I love spicy and I like the chewy texture they add. Layer them on a plate, drizzle with olive oil, chopped cilantro, thinly sliced radish (again on a mandolin if you have one).

#PeterPiperPickedaPeckofPoblanoPeppers.

Potato Vinegar Salad

So I was told this was one of the better salad creations I made this past week by a very reliable source. :) Found a nice little bag of small potatoes and just had to get them. Similar ingredients here. I hate how food tv never has reusable ingredients for different meals of the week. It's tricky to not do the same things with your ingredients and while you'll notice that a lot of these look similar, I tried my best to keep separate flavors going.

Ingredients:

-Two handfuls of small potatoes of your choice

-2-3 thinly sliced radishes

-2 green onions chopped

-1/4 of a red onion chopped

-red wine vinegar

-freshly ground s/p

-olive oil

Wash your potatos and set them aside. Put a pot of salted water on the burner and bring to a boil. Thinly slice your radish with a mandolin or very sharp knife. Chop the green onions, and 1/4 of a red onion. In a large bowl, add the green onions, red onion, s/p, a couple small splashes of red wine vinegar 4 Tablespoons, and 3-4 Tablespoons of olive oil. Let these chill out together for at least 10 minutes or so so that by the time you're ready to combine, they are slightly pickled. Throw your potatoes in for a bath in the water for maybe 7-8 minutes or until they are slightly tender but still have a little bite. Drain the potatoes and toss in a colander for a bit just to rough up the edges of the skins a bit, then add to the big bowl. You could serve right away but if you want it served as a cold salad, I'd recommend letting it chill in the fridge for maybe 20-30 minutes at the most. Enjoy!

Happy Summertime!

#text #BBQ