Do you have big plans for Memorial Day? It IS the official start of summer, you know, so you may as well plan on dragging out the grill for a summer cookout. Here are some of our favorite summer grilling recipes using produce that's in season right now!
Sesame Grilled Eggplant
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 5 large green onions; 4 coarsely chopped, 1 thinly sliced for garnish
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons sesame seeds
- 2 eggplants (about 2 1/2 pounds), cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
Instructions
1. Puree olive oil, chopped green onions, soy sauce, and sesame oil in blender. Transfer mixture to small bowl. Stir in sesame seeds; season mixture with pepper. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill.
. Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Generously brush 1 side of each eggplant slice with green onion mixture. Place eggplant slices, seasoned side down, on grill. Brush tops of eggplant slices with green onion mixture. Cook until tender and charred in spots, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to platter. Garnish with thinly sliced green onions; serve warm or at room temperature. DO AHEAD Can be made 4 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.
Grilled Citrus Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 four pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
- 3 tb vegetable oil
- 2 lemons, cut in half
- 1 orange, cut in half
- salt and pepper
Instructions
1. Prepare grill for medium heat. Rub one 3 1/2–4-lb. chicken, cut into 8 pieces, with 2 tablespoons vegetable oil; season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
2. Grill chicken, skin side down, turning occasionally and squeezing the juice from 2 lemon halves and 2 orange halves over often, until cooked through and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of thigh registers 165°, 25–35 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, brush another 2 lemon halves and 2 orange halves with 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. Grill, cut side down, until lightly charred, 5–10 minutes. Serve chicken with grilled lemon and orange halves alongside for squeezing over.
Grilled Zucchini and Tomato Salad
Ingredients
- 1 large zucchini
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pint small tomatoes
- Handful fresh herbs — chives, sage, basil, summery savory, oregano
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin finishing-quality olive oil, or more to taste
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese
Instructions
1. Heat the grill to medium hot. Cut the zucchini in half crosswise and then lengthwise so you have four quarters. Brush the cut sides with olive oil. Grill for about 5 minutes total, depending on the thickness of the zucchini. Flip once so that the outside also gets grill marks. You want the zucchini hot through and juicy, but not too soft.
2. Cut up the zucchini into bite-sized pieces. Cut the tomatoes in half and toss with the zucchini. Mince the herbs finely and toss with the other vegetables. Add the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and Parmesan. Taste and adjust as necessary.
Blueberry Galette
Ingredients
Pastry
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- Zest of half a lemon
- 8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1/4 cup ricotta, yogurt or sour cream
- 3 to 4 tablespoons cold water
Filling
- 2 cups blueberries
- 3 to 4 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- Juice of half a lemon
- Pinch of salt
Glaze
- 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 teaspoon water
- 1 heaped teaspoon turbinado or coarse sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
Make dough:
1. Whisk the flour, salt, sugar and zest together in the bottom of a large bowl.
2. Work the butter into the flour with your fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles a coarse meal and the largest bits of butter are the size of tiny peas. Stir ricotta and 3 tablespoons water together in a small dish and pour into butter-flour mixture.
3. Stir together with a flexible spatula as best as you can, then use your hands to knead the mixture into a rough, craggy ball. Wrap in plastic and flatten into a disc. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour or up to 48 hours, or you can quick-firm this in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Assemble galette:
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. On a floured counter, roll the dough out into a large round-ish shape, about 14 to 15 inches across.
2. If you’d like to form yours into a star, as shown, use the red dashed outline of this template [PDF]. It will print smaller on an 8.5×11-inch piece of paper than you need, but you can use it as a rough guide to cut as large of a pentagon shape as your dough will allow.
3. Transfer round or pentagon-shaped dough to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Fold dough gently, without creasing, in quarters then unfold it onto the baking pan. [If you’re making a star, cut a 1-inch notch in the center of each side, angling it toward the center, as shown in the blue dashed lines of the template.]
4. Stir together all of the filling ingredients and spread them in the center of the dough, leaving a 2-inch border. If you’re making a round galette, fold the border over the filling, pleating the edge to make it fit. [If you’re making a star shape, fold each of the 5 corners into the center, along the green dotted lines of the template. Pinch the outer corners closed, to seal in the filling and the shape.]
5. Whisk egg yolk and water together and brush over exposed crust. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Bake galette: For 30 minutes, or golden all over. Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes, then slide the galette onto a serving plate. Cut into wedges and serve hot, warm or at room temperature, preferably with vanilla ice cream.