Grill-tastic!

I have been having way too much fun wih my new infrared grill! Plus today was CSA day, so I got a ton of new fruits and veggies. Yay!!! A feast of fresh grilltastic summer foods!

Of course there were burgers. Nothing fancy. Just salt and pepper. Not even any bread or condiments, but they were nice and juicy, so they didn't need any. Because the infrared is much higher heat, yet food isn't touched by flames, they didn't shrink as much as usual. (These were not made with lean ground beef either.) They also were less char-colored. I'd say the jury's still out on whether that's a plus or minus for me.


I love certain veggies on the grill. Fennel is one of my very favorite vegetables to eat raw (sliced really thin), roasted, or sauted, which is weird because everyone says it tastes like licorice, but I don't like licorice.So I guess I don't agree with everyone.  No matter, tonight I tried it on the grill and loved it! Here, I cut the stems, cut off the frilly fronds, and quartered the bulb portion. I also sliced a small zuchini the long way, and one cipiciolli onion in quarters and added them to the bowl. Then I drizzled the veggies liberally with olive oil and sprinkled them with kosher salt. Everything but the stems and fronds went into my veggie grill basket, which is handy because the smaller pieces don't fall through the grill and yet the small open squares allow contact with the grill surface, so they get nice grill marks and carmelize well. Be sure to add the stems after a couple minutes. Then add the fronds right before you're ready to pull it all off the grill.

Dessert was the simplest plan of them all, and one of the best! The hardest part is slicing the fresh pinneaple. I had Amanda pull up a video on youtube for me, because I so rarely think to buy fresh pineapple and had forgotten how to do it. If you use a sharp knife its easy. After you get the outside layer and the 'eyes' removed, instead of slicing horizontally in rings, stand it on end, and slice downward in long slices. To prepare the grill, spray a quick shot of vegetable oil on the grate before it is heated. When the grill is heated, lay the slices on the grill in the opposite direction of the grates. Keep a close eye on the fruit, and flip the slices just after grill marks appear. Cook both sides and pull off the grill. Slice into bite sized chunks when ready to eat. Delicious as is, or served over ice cream.