Gardening & Grilling

Summer is upon us, and that means it's grillin' time. And gardenin' time, too!

The BF and I have a great relationship for many reasons, one of which is that he loves to garden. He has a natural green thumb and has been more than successful at urban rooftop container gardening. This is one of his fruits (or should I say veggies?) of labor this season:

That's baby romaine ready to harvest. Once harvested, it's my turn to take over. I make sure to wash the leaves thoroughly and then take them for a spin in the OXO salad spinner (love that thing!).

And this is the start to a delicious summer meal.

I marinated boneless skinless chicken breasts in a fresh lemon and rosemary (also from the garden) marinade for a couple of hours and threw them on the grill, along with some buttery garlic bread. To dress the salad, I made a creamy Caesar dressing, tossed it with the newly-grown leaves, and adorned it with some real parmigiano reggiano (there's no substitute).

Ta-da! A yummy, classic but elegant, dinner in a flash.

I'm looking forward to cooking up (or devouring raw) the other produce growing in the garden: various tomato varieties, including yellow and heirloom; other lettuce varieties, including endive; carrots; celery; leeks; broccoli; edamame; zucchini, any culinary herb you could possibly think of, and the list goes on.

Thanks for having the green thumb, BF, and here's to a bountiful summer!