It's an ugly picture but really tasty snack or side dish!

It is amazing how many veggies I’ve been eating since joining a CSA. I didn’t eat this many when I was a vegetarian (a long, long time ago), but it’s hard not to when half of your refrigerator is filled with them every week.

The funny thing about these veggies and greens – it’s been mostly greens since the start of the season – is that they actually do a bang up job of filling me up. I’m not the person that thinks “Hmmm… arugula sounds good,” when my tummy’s growling. I’m more likely to think that a grilled cheese, fried chicken, or a salty peanut butter cookie will do the trick, but rummaging through a fridge stocked with such a copious amount of veggies, just to find the one fat-laden item, brings on such a crushing tidal wave of guilt that words fail me to describe its strength.

Needless to say, I’ve taken to turning my veggies into mid-day snacks, and have found, to my surprised delight, that these plump veggies actually do the trick in sating my hunger.

The other day I decided to experiment with grilled bok choy and a spicy dressing that I found in Bon Appetit, and found that it made the perfect snack! The dressing can be made in greater quantity and used for just about anything you want to spice up as a marinade, glaze, or dressing, and grilling the bok choy couldn’t be easier. This would also make a fantastic and exotic side at a BBQ that you think could use a little pizzazz.

Enjoy!

Click here for a printable version of the recipe

Grilled Bok Choy with Spicy Dipping Sauce, Serves 6

Prep Time: 20-25 Minutes

Total Time: 20-25 Minutes

Ingredients:

For Grilled Bok Choy

1 Bok Choy, chopped into 1 inch horizontal pieces so that the stems are separate from the leaves

1 Tbls. Sesame Oil

Salt & Pepper to taste

For Dressing

4 Scallions (or green onions), chopped

½ Cup Vegetable Oil

2 Tbls. White Wine Vinegar

1 Tsp. Soy Sauce

1 Tsp. Sesame Oil

1 Garlic Clove, peeled

1 Tsp. Ginger, chopped

¼ Tsp. Red Pepper Flakes

Preparation:

Prepare the dressing by putting all of the ingredients in a mini-food processor, chopper, or blender. Blitz until smooth (20 seconds). Set aside.

Prepare the grill (indoor or outdoor) by heating to medium-high heat.

Drizzle sesame oil over your chopped bok choy leaves and lay them across the grill. Grill the stem pieces for 2-3 minutes each side and the leaves for 1-2 minutes each side. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Don't make the mistake I did by leaving them whole; chop your bok choy before they get slippery from the sesame oil.

Serve the grilled bok choy with spicy dressing as a dipping sauce or dress the bok choy leaves according to your taste.

Gorgeous!

Enjoy!

Since joining a CSA, the space in my refrigerator has become increasingly dear, leaving every half-full bottle subject to critique as to its usefulness and value.

Being of old New England stock and physically averse to waste, I have been trying admirably to finish the remnant of all bottles, but there are some that are proving more difficult than others. My Trappist Peach Preserves were proving troublesome…. I had been slathering them on pieces of my Grilled Poundcake for weeks now, as I’ve made enough versions of that poundcake to feed most of Beacon Hill. I still have several cakes leftover, but could not stomach the peach preserves for one more slice – but, no more could I bear another slice with peach preserves than I could bear to throw them out, as they are incomparably delicious and of very high quality.

So, when I came across a recipe for peach-lacquered chicken wings in June’s Gourmet, I knew just what to do with the remaining remnants of my peach preserves.

This recipe earns the triple crown for being nursery-school-easy, delicious, and quick… definitely a weeknight dinner star, but, since July 4^th is right around the corner, they also make a wonderful addition to a holiday (rain-soaked) BBQ. Enjoy!

Click here for a printable version of the recipe

Spicy Peach Chicken Wings, Serves 4*

Adapted from Gourmet

Prep Time: 40 Minutes (though you can be distracted doing other things for 25 of them)

Total Time: 40 Minutes

Ingredients:

2 Cloves Garlic

1 Tsp, Chopped Ginger

1/3 Cup Peach Preserves

¼ Cup Soy Sauce

1 Tbsp. Water

Sprinkle of Red Hot Pepper Flakes

1 Tbsp. Salt

2 lb. Chicken Wings

Preparation:

Preheat the broiler.

In a food processor or mini-chopper, mince the garlic and ginger. Add the soy sauce, preserves, water, red-pepper flakes and pulse until combined.

Line a cookie sheet or metal baking pan with tin foil. Arrange the chicken wings in a single layer on the sheet and season with salt on both sides. Cover the chicken wings with the marinade, turning each wing so that both sides are covered in the sauce.

Broil the wings at the top of the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and flip the wings, making sure to smother them into the sauce. Broil for another 10-15 minutes.

Remove from oven, plate, spoon any remaining sauce over the wings, and serve with many napkins. Enjoy!

*Recipe can be doubled or tripled, but may require two cookie sheets.

Unfortunately, I didn't capture the Queen Bee that was flying dangerously close to me and the Shandy.

It happened a few days ago that I was having one of those non-problem problems that only someone who spends her time writing about food would have…. I couldn’t decide if I should have homemade lemonade or beer. I know, call Amnesty International, right?

The problem was, it was 4 o’clock – a perfectly legitimate time for an adult beverage, and, yet, lemonade sounded so much more refreshing. And then a stroke of brilliance hit me, as it clearly did for a few other people around the world, that I should mix the two.

Into my beer stein went half of a bottle of Blue Moon and an equal amount of homemade lemonade, and the result was doubly as refreshing as either one alone. Not only that, but this sort of beverage will make the summer all-day-drink-fests (aka BBQs, weekend Sox games, and outdoor concerts) a lot more tolerable, less dehydrating, and less apt to result in a hangover.

Just a note, I kept my lemonade more tart than most recipes call for – mainly because I like the puckeriness of lemons and because I didn’t want to add that much sugar to my diet, but feel free to increase the amount if you prefer yours sweeter.

Click here for a printable version of the recipe

Shandy, Serves 6

Prep Time: 10 Minutes

Ingredients:

2/3 Cup Sugar

4 Cups Water

1 Cup Fresh Lemon Juice from 6-8 lemons

Ice

3 Pilsner Beers

Preparation:

Fill a pitcher with ice.

In a small sauce pan, combine the sugar with 1 cup of water and bring to a low boil over medium-high heat until the sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut and juice your lemons until you have 1 cup of seed-free juice.

My lemon graveyard.

Combine the sugar water, lemon juice and remaining three cups of water in the ice-filled pitcher.

Pour half of one beer into a beer glass or stein, add equal amounts of the lemonade and serve.

Enjoy!

I recently received an e-mail from my dear friend, PK (of the Mango Salsa recipe and the very active commenting) requesting help with a vegetarian recipe for a BBQ he was hosting; burgers would be the staple, but he wanted to have a few non-meat options up his sleeve for vegetarian guests.

Vegetarian entrees are fantastic on their own, but when combined with a meat offering, the usual choice is either to go for a pre-made veggie burger or double the grocery list and prep time, neither of which are great options.

I wanted to put together a tasty veggie option, that wouldn’t load PK and Mrs. PK with an exhaustive grocery or prep list. I opted for a marinated portobello mushroom burger, because it almost perfectly mirrors the preparation and condiments necessary for hamburgers, and the ingredient list would mostly consist of items they had lying around the house.

The finished version, with a few blistered vidalia onions and bleu cheese crumbles is a sophisticated, yet hearty vegetarian option for summer’s BBQs.

Click here for a printable version of the recipe

Portobello Mushroom Burger with Vidalia Onions & Bleu Cheese

Prep Time: 35 minutes

Marinade Time: 30 Minutes

Total Preparation Time: 65 Minutes

Ingredients:

For the Marinade:

3 Portobello Mushrooms with stems chopped off
4 Garlic Cloves, chopped
2 Tsp. Thyme (fresh or dried), chopped
1 Tsp. Rosemary (fresh or dried), chopped
1 Tsp. Pepper
1/2 Tsp. Salt
1/4 Cup Red Wine Vinegar
2/3 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

For the burger:

Burger Bun
1 Vidalia or Red Onion, cut into 1 inch slices
Blue Cheese Crumbles
Lettuce or Basil Leaves
  

Preparation:

Mix all of the Marinade ingredients, except for the mushrooms, together in a bowl until well incorporated. Place the mushroom caps in a separate bowl and dump the marinade over them. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Remove the mushroom caps and let the marinade drain off, but don’t worry about pieces of garlic or herbs sticking; reserve the marinade. Cook the mushrooms and onion slices over direct heat on a hot grill (or stovetop grill on high heat) for 3-4 minutes; flip the mushrooms and onions, but cook them over indirect heat for another 3-4 minutes.

Cooked the reserved marinade in a pot over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Transfer it to the bowl of a food processor and blitz until the consistency resembles a thick salad dressing (you can add more extra-virgin olive oil to your taste).

Toast the burger buns. Slather either side with the pureed marinade. Add the grilled mushrooms and onions, lettuce, and bleu cheese crumbles and serve.

Enjoy!