Grilled everything

Oh, man, I am stoked.  I've been waiting to make this suburban house a home for so long.  What do I mean by that?  Yes, I mean waiting to buy a grill.  I finally feel like a full-fledged suburbanite with my giant tongs and apron slapping off mosquitos in the back yard while my dinner sizzles and my neighbors tell me how good it smells.  

I like how basically every food tastes better on the grill.  Especially vegetables.  Tonight we had some spring veggies in the fridge and I just dressed them with some oil, salt and pepper then slathered the ponzu sauce on with a mop while they were grilling.  When they were tender I just dumped the rest on top and we dug in.  The next time I ventured into the back yard it was grilling everything with just oil and lots of salt + pepper followed by a dousing of creamy peanut sauce when it came to the table.  These platters make a huge impression but really, it's just the tastiest offerings of the season and a fancy little hat you whipped up with whatever was hiding in the pantry.

Another option is creating a tasty marinade for your veggies to work its magic while you're at work or the gym or just sunning yourself in the baby pool.  The best part about marinated veggies is you can just use the run off sauce and leftovers to re-slather your meal without worrying about cross-contamination.  Take that, chicken!

Spicy Lime-Chili Ponzu

3 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons mirin

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon honey

2 tablespoons oil 

1 tablespoon fresh, grated ginger

1 teaspoon lime zest

1 tablesoon chili sauce

1. Combine all together and use to slather anything from fish to french fries.  Maybe not french fries, but I won't judge.

Thai Peanut Sauce

1 tablespoon (about 1-1 1/2" piece, peeled) fresh ginger
1 garlic clove
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 teaspoons (you can use less) chili sauce
1/2 cup light coconut milk (keep more on hand as consistency varies)

1.Add all in ingredients except coconut milk to blender or food processor, turn it on as you stream in the coconut milk, thinning out to smooth consistency.

Coconut milk marinade

1 can coconut milk

1 tablespoon chili sauce (you can decrease this or just use chili flake)

Zest + Juice of 2 limes 

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon fresh, grated ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced

1. This you can use on your heartier veggies and let them really soak.  The idea was for whole kale leaves to sit in it all day and then make their way to the grill for some crispiness about a minute per side.  I ended up liking the sauce so much that the kale had been napping in all day I just poured it over all the veggies and enjoyed.