Enough Sunshine to Grill

Last week we were lucky enough to enjoy a good 5 days of warmth and sunshine - highly unusual for Seattle! Which inspired me to use our grill and make a trip to the Ballard Farmers Market where I picked up some sunchokes, a beautiful mix of new potatoes, and some adorable little cabbages - red and green. I picked up a few more things at the store and our friend brought some homemade venison sausage, which Jon informed me would go well with some coleslaw involving dried cranberries. Which led me to the following menu -

Apple Fennel Slaw
Serves 4-6

1 large or 2 small heads of cabbage, finely sliced
1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1 red apple, thinly sliced
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 tsp fennel seed
1/2 tsp anise seed
1 tbsp honey
salt to taste
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp lowfat mayonnaise
2 tbsp lowfat sour cream

Combine all ingredients atleast 30 minutes before serving, mix to coat thoroughly. Cover and chill until ready to serve.



Grilled Asparagus
Serves 2-4

Wash and remove tough ends from 1/2 bunch asparagus, toss lightly with olive oil, salt and pepper, skewer through top and bottom. Grill until slightly charred and tender.

Grilled Tofu
Serves 2-4

Combine 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tsp dijon mustard, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1-2 cloves garlic, and 2 tbsp chopped herbs (rosemary, thyme, parsley, or chives work well). Pour over 1 block of tofu, sliced to about 1/4" thick slabs. Turn to coat evenly. Allow to marinate, turning about every 10 minutes, at room temperature for atleast 30 minutes.

When grill is hot, place slices in a single layer over medium hot flame. Save marinade. Grill tofu flipping once until tofu is somewhat firm and crisp on the edges. Toss with remaining marinade before serving.


Grilled Potatoes and Sunchokes

Scrub sunchokes and potatoes thoroughly. Slice to about 1/4" thickness. Parboil or microwave until slightly softened. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and skewer. Grill over high heat until crisp on the outside and soft in the middle. Remove from skewers, toss with enough olive oil to lightly coat the surface along with some freshly chopped herbs - I used parsely. Taste for seasoning and add more salt as needed.

Note: Sunchokes are not the easist thing to skewer, you might want to skewer then through the center - not side to side like the potatoes - to prevent them from cracking.



What to do with leftovers . . .

I had a few leftover potaotes & sunchokes, along with a good portion of the tofu (actually I intentionally made extra). And the next night for dinner made a very quick salad, adding some mixed lettuces, olives, grape tomatoes, chopped bell pepper, english cucumber, and wanuts to the diced tofu, potatoes, and sunchokes and a simple oil and vinegar dressing. Along with some crusty bread it made a perfect dinner for one.