Hooray For Grilling Weather!

You can’t resist an extra sniff at the air when a neighbor is cooking up something on the grill.  Today, I was the one stinking up the place with my grilled marinated zucchini, mushrooms, and chicken breasts.  After last weekend’s hailstorm, I welcome the sunshine and warm weather back to our area so I could fire up the grill.  Grilling in the backyard is my favorite Spring and Summer activity…oh heck, Fall and some of Winter too.  Today, there were fringe trees and roses blooming, making the fragrant air a sheer joy to breathe…  Added to it, that smell that is Barbecue.  Ahhhh!  I thought to myself,  “This is what Heaven must smell like!”

To prepare a marinate, I squeezed a good couple of tablespoons of honey dijon salad dressing into a gallon sized zip lock storage bag along with, 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce 1/4 cup Cabernet Sauvingnon, a few dashes of steak seasoning, a dash of cayenne pepper, and a teaspoon of dried parsley  leaves.  I used a ridged slicer to slice the zucchini in 1/4″ slices, then let all the vegetables soak for about ten minutes.  I then poured some of the marinate over three chicken breasts and let everything soak for about 20 more minutes.  The chicken soaked on a separate plate to not contaminate other food.

I prepared the grill by cleaning off the rungs of the grill and brushing them with a little olive oil.  I place the chicken on the hottest part of the grill and the zukes and mushrooms on the  lesser flames.  Within about fifteen minutes the vegetables were done having been turned once in that time, but the chicken needed more time and a little higher flame to get up to temperature but not burn.  Fifteen and ten minutes on each side got the job done.  In the kitchen I cut up some whole wheat bread into little points and we made little sandwiches with the vegetables and chicken…some,  just the vegetables.  There was no need for condiments…the marinate made for wonderful flavor and the perfect al dente texture of the vegetables made each slice of chicken burst with juiciness and incredible smoky and savory flavor.   This will become a weekly event during the warmer weather I’m sure.  I don’t think I could ever get tired of outdoor grilled food.  Apparently, others are in agreement.  There wasn’t a scrap left of this delicious food.