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Grill Every Day

125 Fast-Track Recipes for Weeknights at the Grill

By Diane Morgan Photographs by E.J. Armstrong

Chronicle Books, San Francisco, California, 223 Pages, $24.95

Our recent rainy weekends have not inspired me to light the grill but there have been some nice nights during the week that are clamoring for grill attention. How do you throw together a tasty meal that is quicker than a weekend pulled pork or barbecue rib extravaganza?

Diane Morgan addresses this question with her new cookbook, Grill Everyday, 125 Fast-Track Recipes for Weeknights at the Grill. The recipes both for entrées and sides are unfussy and easy to put together for any weekday meal. Photographer E.J. Armstrong adds her expertise to entice us. Morgan wants you to fire up your hot box everyday and she has generously shared her tips, secrets, and nightly strategies. Cook once and eat twice is the key to make a home cooked weeknight meal easy. Many recipes come with side suggestions and how to morph leftovers into another day.

The chapters logically flow from Grilling Basics for the Weeknight Cook to Fire-Roasted Fruits-Other Sweet Treats. The beginning of each chapter is an overview of what techniques you need to cook the foods in the chapter. Positioning of food on the grill, thermometer temperature, and oiling the grill are all included.

The first chapter, Grilling Basics for the Weeknight Cook, is a primer with sections that we all should read at the beginning of every summer. For those of you who will be buying your first grill, this book clearly spells out the pros and cons of various types of grills. Morgan proceeds to educate us on grill safety, food safety, and grill tools (maybe we don’t need to be reminded of utensils we lust after; but grill and food safety are excellent annual reminders).

Morgan uses short cuts like store bought pesto, black olive tapenade, and salsas and also fills the pantry with rubs, pastes, and sauces to cut back on nightly prep time. These recipes are not 10 minute wonders. Its summertime and the days are longer and kids are out of school. Schedules become looser and a few more minutes of grill preparation shouldn’t disrupt your evening. These recipes make it worth a slight wait.

Grill extra shrimp from Garlic and Sea Salt Peel and Eat Shrimp and make a wonderful Greek inspired orzo salad- Shrimp and Orzo Salad with Cherry Tomatoes, Green Onions, Feta, Kalamata Olives and Lemon Vinaigrette. Or take extra leftover Alder-Planked Salmon and grilled asparagus to create an elegant composed salad sprinkled with chives, pine nuts, and dressed with sweetened lemon vinaigrette.

Felling adventuresome? Morgan teaches us how easy it is to make grilled pizza. Start with store bought frozen pizza dough, leftover rotisserie chicken, barbecue sauce and shredded cheese. Combine with sliced onions, red peppers and cilantro bake. Trust me- you’ll think twice about ordering Pizzicato during the week!

I’m sure we all have a favorite hamburger recipe but branching out is what a new cookbook is all about. I was intrigued with Asian Turkey Burgers. Ground turkey meat is mixed with the usual Asian suspects (cilantro, scallions, ginger, garlic and soy sauce), grilled and topped with provolone, lettuce, and slathered with a unique soy sauce mayonnaise. I served the burgers without buns accompanied by Baby Bok Choy and Asian Noodle Salad with Cilantro and Black Sesame Seeds. The verdict? I liked the refreshing combination of ingredients in the burgers and the smoky grill taste gave depth to the burgers. The Thai peanut sauce laced bok choy was crisp tender and a delicate texture next to the colorful and toothsome Asian salad.

Once you get grilling it is hard to stop with just the main meal especially if you have leftover charcoal glowing in the grill. Any firm fruit will do but the summer holds an abundance of stone fruit clamoring for the grill. Morgan has a sear and soften technique that is perfect to caramelize and cook fruit. Served in a crisp or atop ice cream grilled fruit is a summer specialty.

From Morgan’s previous book, Dressed to Grill, we get an encore recipe of Dark Chocolate S’mores Sundaes. I won’t divulge any more of the recipe but suffice to say this is a Sex in the City Urban Girls dessert that brings out the campfire child in all of us!

Get Grilling!

Read, Eat, Enjoy!

Judith Bishop

www.ingoodtastestore.com