Summer’s here, which means you’ll make any excuse to fire up the grill. The following foods are just 11 more reasons to feed your obsession. Why relegate yourself to meat and the occasional vegetable all season long? Instead, embrace the unordinary and get the most of the your outdoor grill.

Unusual Foods You Can Grill This Summer

1.Pound Cake

Pound cake is light and airy – prefect for summer – but could use a little edge. Place each serving slice of pound cake on the grill and let it cook until it reveals char lines, on both or just one side. Serve with grilled sliced peaches and some vegan whipped cream!

2. Fruits

If it can hold its own on the heat, then grill that fruit! Slice fruit so that it reveals a flat cross section and then grill it sliced side down on the grill. Once charred, flip it and grill lightly on the other side. For smaller fruits, like strawberries, apricots, and others that may fall through the grid, place them on or wrap them in aluminum foil before grilling or skewer them.

3. Watermelon

I know I’ve dedicated a section for fruits, but watermelon deserves its own shout out. When grilled, it takes on almost a savoy flavor that gives it a unique depth. Pair it with Greek yogurt, honey, and a fresh herb of choice.

4. Grilled Cheese

Sure it’s called “grilled” cheese, but most of us make grilled cheese on the stove top or with a Panini maker. To properly grill grilled cheese, place your bread of choice on the grill, add a layer of cheese, and then top it off with another piece of bread. Use your spatula to press down on the sandwich. Flip and press the sandwich again.

And don’t just stop at cheese as the add-in. Replace it with a layer of something else, such as hummus, coleslaw, mashed avocado, or a bar of chocolate.

5. Artichokes

Artichokes are often baked or steamed, but they fare quite well on the grill and result in a smoky, tender finish. Enjoy with lemon zest, a drizzle of olive oil, and a dash of salt and pepper. To grill artichokes, first steam whole for about 20-30 minutes. Then, slice open lengthwise, cover both sides with olive oil, salt and pepper. Grill with closed lid on cut side for about 10 minutes. Flip and grill on leaf side another 5-10 minutes.

6. Dark Leafy Greens

Grill your salad? Yep. Grill dark leafy greens that are tougher in texture (think: collard greens, broccoli rabe, and kale). Grilling breaks down the toughness of these green and makes them easier to chew and digest. Meanwhile, they bear a lightly smoky flavor that you can compliment with all sorts of other cooling add-ins, such as fresh citrus, a dollop of yogurt, or fresh herbs.

7. Corn

Grilled corn on the cob isn’t so unusual, but using grilled corn in alternate ways most certainly is. Used grilled corn in cornbread, corn and bean salsa, salad, and seafood packets.

8. Salsa

Before you blend up a salsa using raw ingredients, try grilling them first. Grill the tomatoes, the onions, the peppers, and the garlic for an increased depth of flavor and dare I say, more deliciousness?

9. Avocado

Slice an avocado in half, remove the pit, and grill each half face-side down. Eat the avocado as is with a spoon, stuff it with other vegetables, or chop it into a salad.

10. Eggs

Create a small flat, round tray with aluminum foil that is slightly curved up around the edges. Spray the aluminum foil with vegetable oil, crack open an egg into the aluminum foil tray, and cook for a couple of minutes, or until the egg is cooked to your liking.

11. S’mores

Who needs a campfire to make S’mores? Layer your S’more on the grill and cook until the chocolate is melted and the marshmallow is soft and gooey.

Related on EcoSalon
3 Easy Grilled Appetizer Recipes for Your Next Cookout
7 Best Vegetables to Grill: Move Over, Meat
9 Grilling Tips for a Delish Summer Cookout

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Spinach and artichoke dip and a grilled cheese sandwich are two of my favorite things. Meshed together and I may just have discovered my absolute favorite dish.

This simple sandwich recipe has a bit of everything: a touch of greens, a layer of gooey cheese, a dab of garlic, a couple slices of bread, a slab of butter, a dash of salt, and a good dose of artichoke hearts. It makes for the perfect wholesome sandwich that has enough vegetables in there to keep your mind at ease with so much cheese. Enjoy!

Spinach and Artichoke Grilled Cheese Sandwich Recipe

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 3 cups chopped fresh spinach
• 1 cup artichoke hearts from the can, drained, rinsed, and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 1 cup shredded provolone cheese
• 4 pieces of your choice of bread (I use whole-grain or gluten-free varieties)
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions

In a saucepan over medium-high heat, add the garlic and olive oil. Sauté the garlic for one minute before adding in the spinach, salt, and pepper. Continue to cook and stir the mixture until the spinach has wilted, which will take another minute or two. Add in the artichokes. Stir for a few minutes, cooking off any extra liquid. Next, fold in the sour cream. Stir until well combined and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for another two to three minutes and then set aside.

Prepare the bread for assembly. Spread butter on each side of each slice of bread. Place the bread pieces onto a baking sheet and top each slice with an equal amount of shredded cheese, spinach and artichoke mixture, and more shredded cheese. Place the baking dish into the broiler for one minute, or until the cheese begins to bubble and turn light brown.

You can serve the sandwiches closed or open-faced. If you want them to resemble a proper sandwich, flip two of the slices onto one of the other two to make to sandwiches and press down lightly. Broil the sandwiches for another minute, or until the bread is lightly brown and toasted.

Related on EcoSalon
Grilled Salmon Panini Recipe with Cream Cheese
Nutritional Breakdown: Macaroni and Cheese Gets a Sweet Potato Revamp
Vegetarian? Why Cheese is Not Eco Friendly or Humane

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This homemade mayonnaise recipe will knock your socks off.  It’s truly egg-cellent. And hello, as with all homemade goodness, you can say goodbye to high fructose corn syrup and creepy preservatives.  

We are bring it back old school style with elbow grease (no this is not an ingredient), by whisking this mayonnaise recipe rather than using an electric egg beater. Here are step by step instructions, and tips, on how to make an outstandingly simple and delicious homemade mayonnaise recipe.

Yields about 2 cups of mayonnaise 

Ingredients

3 organic egg yolks
1 ½ to 2 1/4 cups of vegetable oil such as grapessed or safflower
3 to 5 tablespoons of organic lemon juice or vinegar
½ tsp salt
1/4 teaspoon dry or prepared mustard
2 tablespoons boiling water

Directions

1. Before you start, have all ingredients at room temperature.  Even warm your mixing bowl with hot water and then dry it.

2. Add the organic egg yolks and beat for 1 to 2 minutes until they are thick and sticky. Once they reach this consistency, you know they can absorb the oil.

3. Add the organic lemon juice or vinegar, salt and mustard, then beat for 30 seconds more.

4. Slowly add the oil, drip by drip, while continuing to beat the egg yolks. *Keep your eye on the oil, not the sauce.  Every 10 seconds or so, stop pouring but continue beating.  When the sauce thickens, almost to a heavy cream consistency, you can add the oil a bit faster, but still slowly.

5. If the mixture becomes too thick, you can stop adding oil and add a bit more organic lemon juice or vinegar to thin it out.

6. Beat in 2 tablespoons of boiling water into the sauce as an anti-curdling agent.

7. Add more of the salt or mustard for taste if you’d like. Et, voila, a delicious mayonnaise recipe!

Want some delicious recipes to add your homemade mayonnaise to?

White Bean and Sweet Potato Veggie Burger Recipe

Caramelized Onion and Smoked Gouda Panini Recipe

Recipe courtesy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck.

Image: Flickr user Jules 

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This is the season for outdoor eating and impromptu get togethers. It’s also the season for stone fruit – peaches, apricots, plums, cherries, and nectarines.

Here’s a gorgeous dessert to take to a cook-out or barbecue. It’s quick and easy to put together, simple enough to showcase the fruit without overpowering it and the dough is easy to work with – even for those who are inexperienced with pie crust. The only secret to a flaky crust is to keep the ingredients as cold as possible and don’t mix the dough too much. Make this with whatever stone fruit looks best at the market. You can use one type or several.

You’ll need:

3 tablespoons yogurt
1/3 cup ice water
1 cup flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon sugar, plus about 1 tablespoon additional for sprinkling on top
1/2 teaspoon salt
7 Tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces and chilled
About 2 large peaches or nectarines, or 4 to 5 plums, or many cherries, or a mixture (pitted and sliced)

To make:

Stir together yogurt and water and keep in the freezer while you mix the other ingredients.

Mix together flour, cornmeal, sugar, and salt. Add butter and work in quickly with a pastry blender, leaving some pieces of butter the size of small peas.

Sprinkle the ice water/yogurt mixture over the flour-butter mixture gradually, mixing it in with a fork. Be careful not to over mix. The dough can still be crumbly, but should stick together when pinched. You may not need to use all the yogurt-water mixture.

Gather the dough into a ball, wrap and refrigerate for two hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. F.

Roll out dough to a quarter inch thickness and transfer to a baking sheet. Top the dough with sliced fruit, working in a spiral from the inside out, leaving a border of about 2 inches all along the edge of the dough. Fold the edges of the dough inward to encase the fruit, and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake at 400 degrees until the crust is brown and flaky and the fruit soft, bubbling and fragrant, about 15 to 20 minutes. Enjoy!

We recommend using local, organic ingredients whenever possible.

Image: bensonkua

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Here’s a perfect summer dessert using seasonal organic fruit from the farmers’ market or your CSA box. It’s simple to make if you’re already grilling. The smoky-sweet apricots hold well at room temperature so you can grill them as soon as the fire is ready and set them aside until after dinner.

Substitute peaches if you wish. Serve in a bowl with vanilla ice cream or add crumbled  gingersnaps and layer in a parfait glass with the ice cream.

Serves 4

1 cup organic sugar
1 cup water
8-10 fresh apricots, halved and pitted
2 tablespoons fresh grated ginger
3 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger

Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until sugar is completely dissolved. Add the three types of ginger, reserving 1 tablespoon crystallized ginger for garnish, and simmer for 10 minutes. Place the apricots in a grill basket. Brush generously with the glaze, and grill until brown and soft on both sides, brushing more glaze on as you grill. Sprinkle finished desserts with crystallized ginger.

Recipe Copyright 2008 Vanessa Barrington

Image: jessicafm

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Sarah filled us in on the details about escarole earlier this week. I love escarole because it’s crunchy and refreshing like lettuce when served raw, but it has a little bit of bitterness to keep things interesting – though not as much as some greens. It’s equally at home braised or sautéed with beans, bacon or sausage for a hearty winter meal.

Here’s a recipe for a wonderful salad that you will be happy to eat all winter long and even into spring.

Escarole Salad with Oranges and Spiced Pecans

Serves 6

You’ll need:

1 pound tender, organic escarole leaves (1 large head)
3 organic navel oranges, peel and pith cut off, sectioned
1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon local honey
2 tablespoons white wine or champagne vinegar
7 tablespoons mild flavored vegetable oil
Salt & pepper to taste
1 cup spiced pecans

To make:

Wash and dry the greens and place them in a large bowl with the orange sections. Set aside.

Combine the shallots, lemon juice, honey, and vinegar in a small bowl. Pour the oil in slowly while whisking until the dressing is well blended. Season with salt and pepper.

Toss the greens and oranges with the pecans (you may want to reserve some to garnish the plated salads) and the dressing. Taste and adjust salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Recipe Copyright 2009 Vanessa Barrington

Image: Health

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Here’s another soy recipe using soy in its traditional, minimally-processed form. Fermented soy products are healthiest of all. Even though tofu is not fermented, Korean cuisine includes plenty of other fermented foods, including kimchi. I’m guessing this is just another example of the natural, wise balance of many traditional cuisines.

This recipe isn’t perfectly authentic as it mixes a Japanese technique with a Korean dish, but it’s not that far off the mark, either. It’s easy to put together and the ingredients are reasonably easy to find. Great for a cold night – or a night with a cold! The Korean red pepper is a ground spice that can be found in any Korean grocery store. Ask for the type used to make kimchi.

This dish is not vegetarian as its base is dashi broth made with bonito flakes. Eaters should also know that many varieties of kimchi include dried or salted fish.

Korean Inspired Soft Tofu Soup with Kimchi

Serves 4

You’ll need:

2 quarts dashi broth

1/2 yellow onion, sliced thin

2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

1 tablespoon (more or less, depending on your taste) Korean red pepper

Salt to taste

1/2 ounce dried mushrooms, such as shiitake or wood ear, reconstituted and sliced thinly

1-14 ounce package organic soft (silken) tofu

1 handful cellophane noodles, soaked until pliable (optional)

Sliced scallions (green and white part) for serving

Sesame oil for serving

Good quality kimchi for serving

To make:

Bring the broth to a boil and add the onions, and garlic. Add the red pepper and a little salt and simmer for 10 minutes. Taste and correct salt. Add the mushrooms and tofu and simmer for another few minutes. Add the noodles and heat through until translucent.

Ladle into deep bowls and garnish each serving with scallions, a drizzle of sesame oil, and kimchi.

Image: jslander

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Sarah clued us in on the wonders of the artichoke, and since the season’s first spiny lovelies are just appearing in the market, here’s a simple, streamlined recipe to inspire you.

Artichokes make a great appetizer or side dish. These accompanied sautéed petrale sole and roasted potatoes. The roasted artichokes make a great base for risotto, pasta, or pizza, as well.

This recipe calls for small or medium artichokes, not the giant globe kind. These smaller artichokes are easier to prepare, as the choke is not fully developed. When trimming artichokes, it may seem wasteful to take so many of the outer leaves off, but you really can’t eat them, so compost them! This recipe easily expands to serve more people. Green garlic is simply young garlic, picked before the cloves are fully developed. It’s a special, short season treat and it has a milder flavor than mature garlic. Like artichokes it is a harbinger of spring so the two make a great pair. You will need two lemons total. If Meyer lemons are available, use those, as they are perfect for this recipe. And of course, use organic ingredients from your local farmers’ market whenever you can. And for all you anchovy haters (or vegetarians) out there, yes, you can leave out the anchovies if you must but they do add a special something.

Roasted Artichokes with Lemon Anchovy Caper Vinaigrette

Serves 2

For artichokes:

2 medium or 8 baby artichokes
1 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
Salt

For the vinaigrette:

2 – 3 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely chopped green garlic (use regular garlic if green garlic is not in season, but use only 1-2 teaspoons)
1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot
1 heaping half teaspoon capers, finely chopped
1 anchovy filet, finely chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

To prepare the artichokes:

Ready a bowl large enough to accommodate the artichokes and fill it with water. Squeeze the lemon into the water, reserving the rind. Cut off the bottom 1/2 inch of the artichoke stems and discard. Cut off the top 1/2 inch of the artichokes.

As you work, rub the artichokes with the lemon flesh still clinging to the reserved rind. Working from the bottom up, bend back the outer leaves until they snap off close to base, discarding them as you go, until you reach the tender, light yellow-green leaves. Continue to rub with lemon occasionally.

With a paring knife, trim the dark green outer layer from the base and stem. Halve the artichokes lengthwise if using babies, and quarter if using medium artichokes. If the choke is furry, scoop it out with a spoon. It might not have developed yet. Drop the artichokes into lemon water as you work.

To cook:

When all the artichokes are prepped, drain them, pat them dry and toss them with the olive oil, the sliced garlic, and salt to taste. Transfer them to a roasting pan or baking sheet and roast in a single layer for 15-20 minutes (for baby artichokes) or 30-40 minutes (for medium artichokes), or until they are tender and beginning to brown.

Meanwhile, make the vinaigrette:

Whisk together the lemon juice, green or regular garlic, shallot, capers, anchovies, parsley, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.

Serve the artichokes warm or room temperature drizzled with the vinaigrette.

Recipe Copyright 2009 Vanessa Barrington

Note: use organic, local ingredients whenever possible.

Image: FotoosVanRobin

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Though a striking plant with a large and stunning purple flower, the spiny leaves and stem of the artichoke plant are not inviting to the touch. I wonder how anyone could have guessed that the flower’s spiky-armored bud would contain anything edible? And not merely edible, but creamy and delightful, packed with fiber, vitamins and even calcium.

The artichoke may be hard to eat, but the phytonutrients make it worth the effort. A hefty combination of antioxidants work together to create a heart-healthy, cholesterol-lowering food. Some of these plant nutrients even have anti-cancer and immune-boosting properties.

And now, how to get at all that nutritional goodness? Typically, artichokes are steamed and the softened petals are pulled off, dipped into a sauce (try them with balsamic vinegar!). The pulpy part is also eaten. This soft hearts make a great addition to green salads. If you’re an ambitious chef, try stuffed artichoke or artichoke with saffron and almonds. How about baby artichokes with potatoes, fresh herbs and lemon? Sounds delish.

The artichoke is a plant of Mediterranean origin and legend has it that the Greek god Zeus became smitten by a beautiful girl but when he was rejected, turned her turned into an artichoke plant. But the artichoke’s real claim to fame may be Norma Jean Baker’s 1947 crowning as the very first Queen of Artichokes in Castroville, CA, giving her a boost early in her career as the soon-to-be Marilyn Monroe.

So gods and starlets alike, get your steamers out and check back soon for an original artichoke recipe by EcoSalon’s very own chef writer, Vanessa Barrington. Ciao!

Image: Dominic

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I love the name “muesli.” It sounds just as creamy and delicious as it is. And even though it’s brought to us by the reputedly regimented and well-organized Swiss, muesli is a breakfast that’s simple to make and easy to experiment with.

The key factor is the soaking the oats. Begone, quick oats or (gasp!) microwave oatmeal packages. Muesli relies on soaking whole oats overnight (or at least for an hour or two) along with dried fruits and nuts to create a magnificently healthy, flavorful breakfast. Oats are, after all, a great source of fiber and folic acid, plus zinc and other minerals. Let me say it again: it’s important to soak the oats, thereby keeping them uncooked, with all their enzymes intact.

Now, to the creative part. I usually do this at night so my muesli will be perfectly creamy in the morning.

Start with ½ cup to a cup of whole oats in a bowl (it depends how hungry you are in the mornings!)

Add dried nuts and fruits (chopped dates, figs, apricots, papaya, be creative!). A dash of cinnamon is always nice.

Pour enough pure water over the mix to cover them, plus just a bit more (everything will expand as it soaks).

By the morning you’ll have a soft, creamy cereal to which you can add a dash of vanilla rice milk, organic heavy cream or yogurt for some extra deliciousness. The soaked fruit lets out plenty of natural sugar, but if you prefer your breakfast a little sweeter, add a bit of your favorite natural sweetener. Bon apetit!

Image: cyclone bill

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