Now that summer is in full swing, we’ve been grilling at least a couple times a week.  I love how little preparation this often requires, and even more how little cleanup there is afterwards!  We have a charcoal grill, which does mean it takes a bit longer to “preheat” than when I cook inside.  Even if I wanted to spend the money though, I wouldn’t give up my charcoal grill for a gas one — I love the flavor that the charcoal smoke gives to the food, and it’s just never the same on a gas grill.  Yes, I know that smokiness is probably giving me cancer, but really, what doesn’t?  And it sure does taste good!

These grilled vegetables are a great easy side for some kind of grilled meat.  In this case we served them with the sausage left over from the sausage ravioli we made a couple weeks ago.  (No, they didn’t sit in our fridge two weeks before we ate them.  I’m just a little behind on posting…)  They take less than five minutes of preparation (other than the grilling), and what can taste more like summer than zucchini and squash, eaten al fresco?

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I don’t know about you, but I am loving the vegetables available right now.  The only problem is I sometimes bring home a bit more than I know quite what to do with.  A couple weeks ago I bought a couple heads of that crazy, brilliantly colored cauliflower, one green and one yellowish orange.  They languished in our fridge for about a week before I decided I’d better do something about them, so I made this gratin with the cauliflower and some zucchini and squash that I picked up the next week.

It turned out delicious but just a tad soggy.  I’m used to making a gratin with potatoes, which tend to soak up the milk, but these vegetables didn’t need nearly so much liquid.  That did make it a little better reheated though since it didn’t dry out.  Definitely made an easy and delicious side with very minimal prep time.  I’m sure I’ll be coming back to this one!

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It’s getting to be zucchini season — that time when, if you’re lucky enough to have a garden, you’ll have more zucchini than you can fit into dozens of loaves of bread.  We don’t have room for much of a garden, so we buy our zucchini at the farmer’s market.  Either way, these fritters are an easy, fast, and delicious way to use it.  The same batter can be used with lots of other vegetables too.  I keep meaning to try it with mushrooms.  The baking powder helps it puff up a bit; they’re also good without it, but a slightly different texture … maybe a little denser but crispier, too.  I love making them as an appetizer since they come together so quickly, but they’re also a fun side. Just eat ‘em while they’re good and hot!

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