All posts filed under: grilling

Cedar Planked Salmon with Sriracha-Ponzu Glaze

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  I am a girl who loves to grill!  For me, grilling season starts early at the first signs of spring. At that point, it’s still a choice whether I cook outside or just turn on the oven.  Then as summer takes hold, grilling becomes an all-out necessity and maybe even a little bit of an obsession! I can honestly tell you that during the summer, if we are eating cooked food, odds are, it was cooked outside on the grill!  And what a grill it is!  I picked out the biggest propane grill I could afford and thanks to the Husband who converted it to natural gas, there’s no more running to the propane exchange in the middle of dinner!  I’ll tell you in one word why I love a gas grill:  convenience!  With the turn of a knob (ok, five knobs), I am cooking. No fuss, no hassle.  I have baked desserts on the grill, pizzas, artisan bread, casseroles and even kale! Whoever said that the grill was the man’s domain never came to my house, …

Fagioli, Cipolle e Tonno — Grilled Tuna and White Bean Salad

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I first had this very simple tuna and white bean salad at Chef Carla Pellegrino’s Neapolitan restaurant, Bratalian.   It was so delicious that I had to ask the manager what was in it.  I was shocked to learn that the simplest ingredients: lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper, were what made it so good!  After having it at the restaurant, I set out to recreate the dish and now it’s a weekday staple dinner for us.  The base of the salad is peppery arugula dressed with a drizzle of olive oil, fresh lemon juice, salt and freshly ground black pepper.  The main part of the salad is juicy grilled tuna paired with creamy cannellini beans, crisp red onion and celery. This salad is crazy-good and amazingly simple to make.  I usually use canned whole white albacore tuna for this dish, but today I used fresh tuna, because I had a thought that it would be even more amazing–and it did not disappoint.  I think from now on I will use fresh tuna whenever possible. …

Filet Mignon Sandwiches with Herbed Goat Cheese and Arugula

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Happy Labor Day weekend!  I hope you are all having a great time enjoying this last summer holiday! Maybe you’ve had a chance to fire up the grill this weekend or perhaps you’ve already moved on to the comfort foods of autumn.  I have done a little of both.  In my head (and in my stomach) I’m already craving those comfort foods–like roasts, homemade bread, creamy polenta baked in the oven…but at the same time, it is still summer, and we in the Southwest have about two more months before we begin to feel the first twinges of cool Fall weather.  So, today, I landed on a happy medium.  I still got my roast, but made it on the grill, sliced rare and piled on a toasted ciabatta roll topped with goat cheese laced with fresh herbs and a nice handful of peppery arugula. The inspiration for this sandwich comes from the “Barefoot Contessa, Back to Basics” cookbook.  I tend to make this sandwich for special occasions, simply because the main ingredient, filet mignon, tends …