Last week (and surprisingly into Monday) was my son’s Spring Break. The weather was perfect! Sunny for the most part, nice temperatures and so inviting! After having to deal with some very winter-like days of dreary and chilly weather, we were ready to spend every minute outside! Spring Break week was even kicked off with a neighborhood BBQ party at our house! Once we got the grill going and got a taste of all the goodness, we kept that grilling going all week!
If mastering the grill is intimidating to you, don’t let it be, show that grill you’re the master!! Be The GrillMaster!
Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be so impressed with your results! And we grill not just for dinner, lunch too! If we’re outside playing, it’s simple to grab some chicken breasts or thighs, sprinkle a little salt and pepper, throw them on there and when finished, add a quick salad and you have an easy perfect picnic lunch!
Plus, when the weather is full of outdoor days, it’s a shame to waste the sunshine and fresh air being inside. It’s grilling season!
I had been given a few vegetable grill trays, baskets and skillets as gifts and if you ever need an idea for a nice housewarming/birthday/holiday gift, these are great! I use them all the time. Here I sliced some brussel sprouts and onions, as well as garlic and sprinkled it all with a little basil and oregano. Allow them to cook nicely over the flames! Not too high or they can burn quickly.
How about some grilled chicken drumsticks! I may have let that middle one get a little too much of the flame but I do like it a bit crispy! There’s no sauce on these, just the chicken with some salt and pepper, a little bit of garlic and onion powder for seasoning! Good pieces of local meat and so good on the grill!
Grilling can make dinner easy when the evenings are nice. I get the food ready quickly then place everything together on the grill and relax a bit. Our grill isn’t that wide but you can see it has plenty of room for some thick pork chops some foil wrapped baked potatoes (I started them off earlier so to make sure they’re cooked thoroughly) and sliced zucchini, mushrooms and garlic sprinkled with basil and oregano! Again I added nothing but a bit of salt and pepper to the pork, or any kind of rub that might have some unnecessary sugar!
Be sure not to add olive oil to the vegetables put on the grill if you’re using the trays or pans; the fire will flame up as the oil can drip or the flame catches the oil on the vegetable. Burnt vegetables and/or wild dangerous flames will be the result. Obviously meat fat from hamburgers will do this as some of the fat drips. Those flames from hamburger fat is what used to really get my nerves shaking but it’s ok as long as you keep the heat and flame under control and especially you don’t want the flames burning the outside hamburger meat itself so much it turns it into to piece of charcoal (unless you like it that way?). I love a hamburgers on the grill when the heat from the flames give them a perfect charred and caramelized covering to the outside with the inside cooked, juicy and flavorful!
Not the prettiest of food pinterest photos below but a few steaks are simple and so good on the grill! And when you’re buying quality meat it is much, much better than any steak purchased at a chain restaurant where the animals are more than likely tortured and fed unhealthy diets or the meat is injected with some type of plumping enhancer.
I picked these up from a local farmer’s market to try, they were fantastic, smelled so good while they were grilling and the resulting taste was YUM! You can see the ingredients, simple! Just turkey, water, salt, spices and garlic.
I’ve also done Country Style Pork Ribs, which actually isn’t the rib of the pork, it’s the shoulder so there’s no bone. A lot of meat! I’ve made this kind of pork plenty of times in the oven, it is absolutely so much tastier from the grill!
It’s not just limited to meat and vegetables on the grill, fish too! Every summer we do a clam jam, either at home or when we’re down the shore in LBI (Long Beach Island NJ, my husband grew up vacationing there and we’ve carried the tradition on with our kids!). We put clams right on the heat and let them pop open and have at them! Here I have some cod fish put in foil to allow me to add a bit of butter to keep the fish moist and not have it drip, then I added some garlic, parsley, oregano and placed that in a vegetable skillet.
I also threw on some steak with salt and pepper as well as some onions, peppers and mushrooms! Surf and Turf!
It’d be so much cooler if we had actually caught this fish earlier in the day, although that would mean needing to fillet and debone it. Flakey and garlicky delicious!
Ok, so although I love grilling outdoors, where we live, once the sun sets it gets chilly fast! We do have an outdoor firepit my husband built to keep us warm as we hang out during the night hours…
We sit on the patio, or fireside or sometimes on the deck and enjoy the sunset. But sometimes we do come back inside to eat. It’s more often during the summer when we can stay out as the sun doesn’t set until about 9 PM! It’s wonderful! So here’s one of the many easy grilling dinners I’ve prepared, moved inside and paired with a salad and a glass of white wine. Perfect for Spring Break! <—- A lot different from about 15 years ago! I’m happy with that.
