Fire Up The Grill! Sizzling Spring & Summer Favorites
Our very own CSA member Emily C. offers up a few spring favorites from her weekly box.
Give them a try!
Sometimes I treat menu-planning like it's my own personal round of Chopped: you have these mystery ingredients and limited time. Make something AMAZING! So when I was asked what I'd do with radicchio, spring shallots, squash blossoms, and summer squash from Spade & Plow, the gears started turning.
Grilled Everything! (Or Saute. Do You.)
Ingredients:
Summer squash
Radicchio, loose outer leaves removed, halved
Spring shallot, halved lengthwise
Fresh trumpet mushrooms
Fava beans, shelled and cooked
Oil and lemon juice or vinegar for vinaigrette
Salt & pepper
Polenta or other cooked grain/starch
Handful mint, parsley, or other fresh herbs
I don’t have an outdoor grill, but my grill pan lets me pretend. At least in batches. I grilled the spring shallots and radicchio just cut in half lengthwise, and the summer squash in larger chunks. Trumpet mushrooms also made it to the party (seasoned lightly with a little soy sauce). If you’re sauteing, smaller pieces are a better bet. Any beans or lentils are a welcome addition--I used shelled and cooked fresh fava beans, just to make this a hyper spring-loaded dish. Make a warm vinaigrette and drizzle or toss to coat.
Serve with fried squash blossoms on a bed of grains of your choosing. I went with polenta spiked with a little lemon zest, thinking it'd echo the squash blossom filling just so, but you could do anything. Risotto. Quinoa. Cauliflower rice if you're avoiding carbs. That “ancient grain” you picked up because it looked interesting and/or you were a bit panicked staring at picked-over grocery shelves. It'd be a great time to try that one! Top with crispy shallots (below), fresh herbs, and extra cheese.
Bonus Crispy Shallots
2 or more shallots
Vegetable oil, to fry
Salt
I thought this would be a good time to commit myself to making some proper crispy fried shallots. I sliced my shallots as thin as I could and fried until golden, drained off the oil (which is fragrant from the shallots and worked great for cooking everything else in this post), and let them hang out on a paper towel with a sprinkling of salt to fully cool before storing in an airtight container.
