Grills Gone Wild

Last week I didn't mention that John and I bought a grill from our friend Emilie.

And it. is. awesome.



















We had little charcoal grill, but we haven't used it much. The new-to-us grill is gas, and we've used it almost every day since we got it.

Here are some of the results.
Portobello burgers with grilled sweet potatoes (based on this preparation), asparagus, and zucchini.

















The mushroom burgers were marinated in balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and garlic. We topped them with goat cheese and lettuce. Amazing!




Next up: Asian-style Grilled Tofu with an enormous salad.

















We grilled these cuts of tofu on foil so that they didn't stick to the grill and then go up in flames. They stuck a little bit when the marinade caramelized (it was made of hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and lime juice), but they came up ok. The marinade was delicious, if a little higher in sodium than I prefer. I had one of the leftover slices on a hamburger bun for lunch the next day. They're pretty tasty.
















By the end of the week we were ready for something non-grilled, so we made pizza with sauce I read about on Dave and Carla's food blog.

















This recipe makes a ton of sauce, so we've made several versions of the same pizza over the past few days: zucchini, red peppers, mushrooms, and goat cheese with some fresh herbs. It might be my new favorite combination of toppings. Apparently the sauce is a copy cat from a pizza place called Palermo's (I'm guessing that's the right place, but if it's not, let me know!). It's a sweet, flavorful sauce, and I'm glad we have so much of it. We even froze some to use again, probably next month during our comps.

And finally, totally unrelated to grilling and pizza, I saw a blog post this week (similar to this one) about torching some bananas with sugar on them as an oatmeal topping that mimics creme brulee. Since John and I have a torch, I felt like I had to try it.








It doesn't involve the grill, but it does require a flame.









They were a little too sweet for my taste, but, what can I say? I can't resist the chance to light my breakfast on fire.



In other news, the weather felt a lot more like spring this week. The purple wildflowers are coming up in our neighbors' yard.





You can see downtown just behind those trees.










Compare with this somewhat similar angle.






Things really have improved.











Though it snowed like crazy for a couple hours today, it didn't stick. Maybe that's how we can tell it's really spring?