Guest Blogger: Recipe Design

I am so excited that its a new month!! and time for another Recipe Design post, by Jenna Rowland of Thepuckstopperswife!! When Jenna told me she grilled her salad!! ( WHAT??!!) I was so intrigued and knew you would be too!! SO, enjoy a great summer recipe, and a new twist to a favorite oldie 🙂

Thanks Jenna!!

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By: Jenna Rowland~Thepuckstopperswife

Here are two things you should know about me:  1) I love to cook; 2) I hate microwaved food.  My oven died on me two weeks ago only to be “fixed” on Saturday and die again on Saturday night.  With no oven or stove top, I have been forced to be a bit more creative in my cooking methods.  However, I do have a free-standing gas burner outside that my Dad built for me so that I can cook stinky foods without stinking up the house.  In theory, I could use that in place of my regular stove top.  But it’s Monsoon season in Colorado which means rain and storms every afternoon and evening for the past few weeks.  Not very conducive to cooking on an outdoor range.  GREAT timing, right?!?

But that didn’t stop me from using the grill.  I made a game out of it.  I have been cooking everything on the grill (either gas or charcoal) including salads, main courses, potatoes, garlic bread, and yes, even desert.  And it’s all been delicious!  So delicious that my family (OK, it’s just me and the hubby in this house…so far anyway) has a couple new favorites.  Let’s start with the healthy stuff! 

Grilled romaine heart salad with Caesar-style vinaigrette.

Here’s what you’ll need for the dressing:

2 Tablespoons EVOO (that’s extra virgin olive oil for those non-Rachel-Ray-ers)

1 Tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice (don’t use the fake stuff…real lemons are cheap enough, and you’ll only need 1)

1 small clove of garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/8 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

fresh ground black pepper to taste

Whisk it all together and set it aside.

Grate a few table spoons of Parmesan cheese

And the salad part:

Wash 2 whole Romaine hearts and remove any wilted leaves. Cut lengthwise leaving ends in tact.  Drizzle with a little EVOO or spritz with a little olive oil spray and put them on a hot grill until grill marks are on lettuce and it has slightly wilted (about 5-6 minutes).  Remove from grill and drizzle with vinaigrette.  Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese while it’s still warm and serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings.

For desert, I found a new twist to an old favorite.  S’mores!  Who doesn’t love a good s’more?  Using the flame from the gas grill, and once even using hot embers from the charcoal grill, I toasted a marshmallow to my liking (who am I kidding? I love them a little burned!!).  Using what I had on hand, I made the most incredible s’more EVER like this:

1.  Snap a graham cracker in half so that you have 2 squares

2.  Smear a little peanut butter on one of the graham cracker halves

3.  Break a Hershey’s bar with Almonds in half

4.  Put one of the chocolate halves on top of the peanut butter

5.  Toast a marshmallow to your liking

6. Spread the perfectly melty warm marshmallow over the chocolate

7.  Top with the other graham cracker square.

I am guessing that’s not new to some of you.  But it was new to me, and completely heavenly!  And the chocolate bar with almonds added a wonderful nutty crunch to the perfect s’more.  I dare you to not fall in love with that.

Oh, and if you aren’t a chocolate and peanut butter lover, try this:  halve some ripe peaches and remove the pits.  Melt a bit of butter with some brown sugar and cinnamon in a small sauce pan.  Brush the peach halves with the melted butter/sugar mixture and put them face down on the grill until the peaches are even softer and have grill marks on them.  Serve with vanilla ice cream or vanilla whipped cream.  Another, quick and easy, no mess, on the grill desert.