Tag Archives: vegetables

Grilled Sweet Corn with Chili-Lime Butter

4 ears Florida sweet corn

Chili Lime Butter:
1 stick of sweet butter, softened
zest of 1 lime
zest of 1 lemon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. chili powder
pinch of cayenne pepper

Place softened butter in a bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients, except corn, and mix until incorporated. Peel and clean corn.

Place cobs on a gas grill or barbecue with fire burned down to white coals, and turn corn frequently. Cook until nicely browned.

Slather hot grilled corn with chili-lime butter and serve immediately.

Serves 4

Vegetables On The Grill


1 large green bell pepper, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 large red bell pepper, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 large red onion, quartered
1 medium zucchini squash, sliced lengthwise 1/4″ thick
2 medium summer squash, sliced lengthwise 1/4″ thick
6 shallots, halved
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. coarsely ground pepper
Vegetable cooking spray
2 pints grape, or cherry tomatoes

1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Drizzle with oil & vinegar and sprinkle with sugar, salt and pepper, tossing to coat.
2. Grill vegetable mixture in a metal basket or grill wok coated with cooking spray, covered with grill lid, over medium-high heat (350° to 400°) 15 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender, stirring occasionally. Remove vegetables from basket; add tomatoes to basket, and grill, covered with grill lid, 1 to 2 minutes or until tomato skins begin to burst.

Serves 8

Minestrone Genovese

1oz. dried porcini mushrooms
1/4 lb. Swiss chard, stems removed
1/4 lb. spinach, stems removed
Salt
2 small zucchini, diced
2 medium white potatoes, peeled and diced
2 Japanese eggplants, peeled and diced
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups pasta
2 cups cooked white beans
2 tbsp. pesto (see recipe below) Freshly ground black pepper

Soak porcini in 2 cups warm water until soft, about 20 minutes. Remove porcini, rinse, chop and set aside. Pour porcini water through a coffee filter and reserve. Chop chard and spinach leaves.
Bring porcini water and 6 cups salted water to a boil in a large pot. Add porcini, chard, spinach, zucchini, potatoes, eggplant and oil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour.
Add pasta to soup. Cook pasta for about 10 minutes, add beans and cook 5 minutes longer. Stir in pesto and season with salt and pepper. Serve hot or, in the Genovese tradition, at room temperature. Sprinkle with parmigiano-reggiano, if you like.

Pesto

2 tightly packed cups stemless fresh basil leaves
2 tbsp. pine nuts
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
Coarse salt
1/2 cup mild extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano

Crush basil, pine nuts, garlic and a large pinch of salt into a fine paste with mortar and pestle. Drizzle in oil, stirring constantly, then stir in parmigiano-reggiano. Put plastic wrap directly on surface of pesto, then set aside. If using a food processor, put pine nuts, garlic and salt into the bowl of the food processor fitted with a metal blade and blend to a paste. Add basil, drizzle in oil and process until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and stir in parmigiano-reggiano.