Grilled veggie skewers with chimichurri sauce

https://minimalistbaker.com/grilled-veggie-skewers-chimichurri-sauce/

https://minimalistbaker.com/easy-chimichurri-sauce-10-minutes/

Photo & recipe credit: https://minimalistbaker.com/

Dinner last night: Grilled lime butter salmon packets with summer vegetables

http://therecipecritic.com/2016/07/lime-butter-salmon-foil-summer-veggies/

Photo and recipe credit: http://therecipecritic.com/

Curried vegetable polenta kebabs

These curried vegetable kebabs from Naturally Ella were a big hit for dinner last week!  We grilled the vegetables on skewers then plated them for eating. This recipe calls for prepared polenta (the kind that comes in a tube, found in the oragnic/health section at my grocery store), and I'll have a recipe later this week for polenta fries to use the leftovers!

Pork and sweet pepper kebabs

This pork kebab recipe comes from Cooking Light, and it is suuuuuuuuper simple.  The marinade gives the pork tons of flavor, and 'tis the season for grilling, right?  The sweet peppers are great too, but they're really a separate side dish, so feel free to substitute on that one.

PORK AND SWEET PEPPER KEBABS

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

1/4 cup lower-sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon ketchup 

2 teaspoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 (1-pound) pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes 

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

16 mini bell peppers

Cooking spray 

Instructions:

1.  Place first 7 ingredients in a large zip-top bag, stirring well. Add pork; seal bag. Refrigerate 1 hour, turning after 30 minutes.

2. Preheat grill to medium-high heat.

3. Remove pork from bag, and discard marinade. Thread pork evenly onto 4 (6-inch) skewers; sprinkle evenly with salt. Thread 4 mini bell peppers onto each of 4 (6-inch) skewers. Arrange skewers in a single layer on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 3 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness.

Pimiento cheese bacon burger

As soon as we saw these pimiento cheese bacon burgers on Bobby Flay's BBQ Addiction, I knew they would quickly be on our menu.  It's hard to resist a juicy burger topped with ooey gooey pimiento cheese- so delicious!

PIMIENTO CHEESE BACON BURGER

Yield: 4 burgers

Ingredients

1 cup mayonnaise

1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup drained and finely diced roasted red peppers (I used jarred pimientos)

12 ounces extra-sharp white Cheddar cheese, coarsely grated

12 ounces extra-sharp yellow Cheddar cheese, coarsely grated

1 1/2 pounds ground chuck

2 tablespoons canola oil

4 hamburger buns, split and toasted

8 slices bacon, cooked until crisp

4 slices Vidalia or other sweet onion, grilled

4 thin slices beefsteak tomato

1 large dill pickle, thinly sliced

Instructions

Whisk the mayonnaise, cayenne, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper in a large bowl. Add the pimientos, white Cheddar and yellow Cheddar and gently fold until combined. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before using.

Meanwhile, preheat a grill to high. Divide the ground chuck into four equal portions. Form each portion into a 3/4-inch burger and make a deep depression in the center with your thumb. Brush both sides of the burgers with the oil and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Grill the burgers until golden brown and slightly charred on both sides and cooked to desired doneness, about 4 minutes each side for medium doneness. During the last minute of cooking, place a dollop of the pimiento cheese mixture on top of each burger and close the grill lid. Cook until the cheese has just melted, about 1 minute.

Place the burgers on the buns and top with the bacon, onions, tomatoes, and pickles.

Grilled potato salad

Our side dish with the English muffin burgers was this grilled potato salad. It looks like a big mess in this picture, but trust me, this was delicious. A mix of red and sweet potatoes parboiled, then grilled, then tossed with a bacon vinaigrette. Yummy!

Grilled pork tenderloin sandwiches

We made these grilled pork tenderloin sandwiches from Cooking Light this week, and they were a big hit! So simple to make - no marinating required, the rub is typical pantry items, and the sauce is just two ingredients! YUM!

Smoky chicken barbecue kebabs

We made Southern Living's smoky chicken barbecue kebabs for Sunday dinner this week. These were super simple to make and tasted delicious!! Definitely an easy, go-to summer grill recipe. I served ours with grilled corn on the cob- nothing fancy, just seasoned with oil, salt and pepper. Also, if you want to make the kabobs even easier, you could skip the white barbecue sauce - the rub has plenty of flavor on it's own.

Grilled peaches with blackberry basil butter

Continuing with the peach theme, dessert tonight was grilled peaches with blackberry basil butter, a recipe from Southern Living magazine. The butter is a unique blend of flavors, and goes perfect with warm, grilled peaches!

French onion grilled pizzas

Dinner last night was French onion grilled pizzas from Rachael Ray's magazine. (I made homemade pizza crust from a Bobby Flay recipe here). We modified the recipe for indoor cooking - cooked the bacon and onions in saute pans on the stove, grilled the pizza crusts on a grill pan, and broiled them in the oven once they were topped to melt the cheese. Also, we put the tomatoes on with the rest of the toppings so they would be warm, instead of at the end. This pizza recipe sounded simplistic (no sauce?!), but it turned out to have a lot of flavor. Robert and I both really enjoyed this one!

Peruvian-style steak

We made Peruvian-style steak from the June/July issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray for dinner one night at the beach. This recipe only has a few ingredients, but cooking everything on the grill really brings out great flavors. I especially loved the grilled tomatoes and onions - delicious! The potatoes were a bit bland (even after I seasoned them with salt and pepper, which the recipe didn't call for), so we topped ours with guacamole. An entire meal cooked on the grill!

Steak a la Chorrillana
Serves 6

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 baking potatoes, sliced lengthwise, 1/4 inch thick
1 1/2 Spanish onions, sliced lengthwise
1 tomato, cut into 8 wedges (we used 3 because my family loves tomatoes, and I couldn't fathom all of us sharing just one!)
3 lbs flatiron steak, halved crosswise
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
Lime wedges, for serving

1. Preheat a grill to medium. Brush the olive oil on the potatoes, onions and tomato. Arrange the vegetables on greased cooking grates and grill, covered, until the potatoes are crisp and golden underneath, about 5 minutes. Move the tomatoes to a cooler spot on the grill; turn the potatoes and onions and grill until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, season the steaks with salt and pepper, arrange on the cooking grates and grill, turning once, until grill marks appear, about 7 minutes for medium-rare. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest for 10 minutes before thinly slicing.
3. Transfer the vegetables to a work surface; tent the potatoes with foil. Coarsely chop the onions and tomatoes and transfer to a bowl; stir in the cilantro and season with salt and pepper. Serve the steaks with the tomato-onion mixture, potatoes and lime wedges.

Grilled pork tenderloin and creamed corn

All my cooking magazines are featuring grilled recipes this month, so we fired ours up. We made pork tenderloin with Bobby Flay's Spanish spice rub and Rachael Ray's grilled creamed corn, and both were delicious! The cream cheese in the corn dish made it rich and creamy - yum!

For the Spanish spice rub:
* 3 tablespoons Spanish paprika
* 2 teaspoons ground cumin
* 2 teaspoons dry mustard
* 2 teaspoons ground fennel seeds
* 2 teaspoons kosher salt
* 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

Grilled creamed corn
Serves 6

8 ears corn, husked
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 1/4 cups milk
3 tbsp cream cheese
Salt and pepper
1 pinch cayenne pepper

1. Preheat a grill to medium-high. Arrange the corn on the grate and grill, turning occasionally, until the kernels are golden-brown and softened, 8-10 minutes. Once cool enough to handle, remove the corn kernels from the cobs; discard the cobs. (You should have about 5 cups of kernels). Lower the grill temperature to medium.
2. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over the grate. Add the butter to melt, then whisk in the flour until combined and foaming, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the milk and cream cheese and cook, whisking constantly, until smooth and thick, 2-3 minutes. Stir in the corn kernels; season with salt, black pepper and cayenne, and cook until heated through, about 1 minute.

11.13.09 Grilled steak and vidalia onions

Robert was in the mood to fire up the grill last night, so we made Bobby Flay's grilled steak and vidalia onions with mustard-worcestershire vinaigrette. Oh. my. goodness - we loved this one! The vinaigrette is like a homemade steak sauce, and the steak and onion combo was perfection. This recipe only has a few ingredients, so it will definitely go into the regular rotation at this house. Enjoy!