Fresh Tart

Oooh, I love my new Weber vegetable grill pan.  I made chicken fajitas tonight and grilled the onions and peppers right alongside the chicken breasts.  I spritzed the pan with oil first, and tossed the vegetables with a little bit of olive oil (sprinkle of salt, few shakes of ancho chili powder) before spreading them in the pan, so had no sticking problems.  I heated the tortillas (wrapped in foil) on the grill as well - without the beans and rice I also made (for the kids), it could have been a completely grilled dinner.  Oh, except for the guacamole - gotta have guaaaaahcamole wth fajitas.  (Or anything - definitely one of the world's greatest dishes, guacamole!)

We ate on the deck, our first time for the season.  It's been warm enough a few times, but also windy, windy, windy, and really, who wants to eat elm seeds with their salad?  Tonight it is completely still, 75 perfect degrees.  The air smells of lilacs and barbecue.  I enjoyed a long, idyllic walk around Lowry Hill and Lake of the Isles earlier in the day, then read The French Lieutenant's Woman by the pool while Nathan swam, then sipped a beer while I prepped din...

Yeah, just one of those days.

From www.cookinglight.com

I hope you're relaxing right about now, enjoying the start of a long Memorial Day weekend.  It's a weekend for griling, of course - I'm planning a little grilled tasty every day.

First up, tonight, skewers of salmon and shrimp, marinated first in something citrus-y/garlicky, to serve alongside pasta (for the kids) and stir-fried pea pods.

Tomorrow night, chicken fajitas - more marinade, this time spicy/garlicky (always the garlic).  I'll marinate peppers and onions too and grill them in my new Weber vegetable grill pan (it'll be the first time, I'll let you know how it goes...).  Soft tortillas, salsa, avocado, all good.

And Monday, for a late lunch, I plan on roasting potatoes on the grill (an experiment, on a baking sheet; again, I'll let you know how it goes...), then grilling halved baby zucchinis and onions which I'll finish with a little balsamic vinaigrette and fresh herbs (I'm picturing a warm salad) and a few hot dogs (mostly for the kids; I'm thinking I'm going to be very happy with grilled potatoes and zucchini).

For more inspiration (and actual recipes!), check out this Cooking Light link for grilling fish.  The swordfish skewers (pictured above) look particularly delicious, as does the orange/bourbon marinade for salmon (to me, orange and salmon are dreamy together).

And oh, if you're looking for something a bit more ribstickin', like say, ribs, check out my favorite (no-fail) pork rib recipe.  The Texas-style beef rib recipe featured this week in the NYTimes looks fun (and easy) too.  (In fact, for inspiration, check out the whole Times Topics on grilling - packed with info and recipes.)  And for full-on porkiness, it's hard to beat a slow-grilled pork shoulder (pictured), rubbed with lots of sweet spice and pulled apart to devour in buns.  Oh yeah...

Happy grilling!