Sunday, May 10, 2009

Menu Monday--Summertime :)

One of the best things about living in the South is the early summer we enjoy. While many are hoping to see the grass after months of snow, we are out grilling away basking in the sun. Granted, by mid-July we'd do anything for a little cool rain to escape the triple digits, we still love being able to spend most the year outside with our grill.

Grilling is a personal preference. We personally have a big ol' gas grill because I love the even cooking and pretty much brain dead cooking. A charcoal grill is a bit pickier but you have the option of adding smoked wood chips to add additional flavor. To make up for this, I sometimes cook my salmon on cedar planks. Cedar planks are one-time use and can really enhance the flavor of salmon but because of its price, I usually only do cedar planks for my favorite salmon of all, Copper River (and it is very close to being in season). Copper River is pricey so if I am going to bite the bullet and buy it, I might as well as add the few bucks for the planks. I strongly recommend buying cedar planks from a grocery store rather than a hardware type store. You are cooking food on it after all.

I also love doing veggies on the grill. For the bigger veggies that won't slip through, I like to brush them with olive oil and put them right on. Smaller ones can be mixed together with seasoning and olive oil, then wrapped up on the side corner of a grill to heat away.

So let's enjoy summer and dust off the grill!

Monday: Grilled Chicken (marinated in diced ginger, soy sauce, salt and pepper) placed on baby spinach with a nice crusty french bread

Tuesday: Stuffed Turkey Burgers with grilled asparagus

Wednesday: Wild Salmon (grilled) with various veggies (summer squash, zuccini, red bell pepper,  fresh thyme) wrapped in foil


Friday: Roasted Salt and Pepper Shrimp with Savannah Rice (not the grill but summery ☺)

Saturday: Chicken Fajitas (chicken cooked over the grill)

Sunday: Bison Bacon Cheeseburger (horribly fattening but ya gotta have bacon every now and then !)

If you want even more yummy meals, be sure to check out Jen at Chive Talkin' for additional menu plans :)



9 comments:

Amanda said...

I love BBQ's!
But i don't get to enjoy them nearly as often as i would like to as it's alway's raining ~ well nearly always!
Your menu sounds lovely ~ i can almost smell the food cooking on your grill!

Mimi said...

I think I want to come to your house for dinner this week!

All looks so good! Thursday & Friday especially!

Clare said...

i love grilled food, especially the veggies on the grill! i am hoping that we can keep away the rain so we can grill out too!

dani said...

mmm... grilling sounds wonderful, lisa:P it is warm enough here; we just haven't taken the time to do it, yet.
i have never had bison... is it fattening (or just the bacon and cheese part of the sandwich)??? does it taste like hamburger or more gamey???
do tell, tee-hee:)
love,
dani xxxxx

jenn @ blog.chivetalkin.com said...

I love grilling... not quite ready to do that in Wisconsin, soon though! I am so jealous...did I just say that out loud? LOL. Your menu plan looks so good... love tonight's menu and the stuffed turkey burgers sound interesting. We also like bison, out here we just call it buffalo :-) Thanks again for joining in at the Chive Talkin Blog Roll. I love having you! Cheers!

jenna @blog.chivetalkin.com said...

Oops! Sorry... that would be from Jenna :-D

Stephanie said...

Yay for grilling! I've never grilled eggplant before - I bet that's super yummy! (I'll have to check out that recipe.)

EatPlayLove said...

I love your menus. So much I wish I could just drop by around dinner time and enjoy your cooking!

Brockton Demolition Contractors said...

Good readingg this post