Cooking in the Summer

It is summer - a time when everyone feels happy.  The sun is shining, the trees and the grass are green, the flowers are blooming, and we can run out the door without heavy clothing or shoes.  We all look forward to spending as much time as possible out of doors, and find excuses to leave our work to get into the sunshine.  Today our three year old class took their cots and bedding out onto the playground and had naptime under the trees where they could feel and hear the breeze and listen to the birds.  It was a peaceful place - I wanted to pull up a cot and join them.  In the summer I do as much as possible outdoors - I would wash if I had a washing machine in my back yard - and one thing that I do as much as possible is cooking on the grill.  There are enough different things that cook well on the grill to keep us eating all summer without getting bored.

Vegetables are excellent.  Wash them, slice, sprinkle them with some olive oil, and put them on the grill.  After a few minutes sprinkle them with more olive oil and turn them.  Zucchini, sweet peppers, carrots, asparagus, and green beans are wonderful when cooked this way.  If they tend to fall through the grates, just thread them onto a bamboo skewer.  Corn can be husked, sprinkled with olive oil, and placed on the grill.

Biscuits, either plain or sourdough, can be put into a cast iron frying plan, and placed on the warming shelf.  They will bake while the other foods cook on the grill, and they have an entirely different taste from biscuits that are baked in the oven.

For desert, slice peaches or necterines, put on skewers, sprinkle with olive oil and grill until slightly brown and softened on each side.  When they are done, put them on some vanilla ice cream.  (They are good on their own, but anything is better with ice cream on it!).

One of my all time favorite foods that can be cooked on the grill is pizza.  It is a little more work until you get used to it (especially for those of us who are coordination challenged!), but quickly becomes easy to do.  I use my favorite pizza dough recipe, but I imagine that it would work with premade crusts or dough.  The pizzas need to personal size so that they can be handled easily.  Turn a cookie sheet upside down, rub olive oil on it, and place a piece of dough on it.  Oil your hands and spread the dough out to the desired thickness.  With the grill on low heat, invert the cookie sheet over the grill grates and help the dough come off onto the grates.  (If it folds a little or sags between the grates a little, don't worry).  After three or four minutes the dough will be brown and will smell great.  Use a pancake turner to remove the dough from the grill, and flip it onto a plate so the browned side is up.  Put whatever pizza toppings you would like on the top - sauce, cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms, olives, artichokes, etc.  (This is a great chance for your child to customize his pizza!)  Return the pizza to the grill and cook for an additional 5 or so minutes until the bottom of the crust is brown and the cheese is melted. 

All of the foods are delicious, have ways for the children to help prepare them, and will impress the heck out of your friends who do not realize that such things can be cooked on a grill.  Have fun!