Fabulicious!: On the Grill by Teresa Giudice Read Free Book Online Page B

different tastes and colors and uses.
    Balsamic is amazingly delicious, especially on salad, but its slightly sweet flavor and dark color isn’t right for everything. White wine vinegar is a little on theexpensive side, but a little goes a long way; it’s great for poultry and fish dishes, or even drizzled on a sandwich. And red wine vinegar is a staple for anything to do with red meat. I use it a lot in my marinades for red meat because the acid helps the marinade penetrate into the meat better.
J UST A DD C HICKEN
    Salads and soups in Italy are starter courses, but you can add protein, such as grilled chicken, to any of the following recipes and have a wonderfully filling main entrée.
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    * * *     Hydroponic Blah     * * *
    I t’s not your imagination: supermarket tomatoes, even in season, don’t taste as good as they did thirty years ago. My mom insisted it was true, so I looked it up and as always, she was right. To get the best crop possible, today’s mass-produced tomatoes have been bred specifically for looks and long transportation times. Taste? Well, that didn’t seem to crossover very well. Add to that the fact that they are picked a month before they’re ripe, and then stored, shipped, and sometimes even squirted with ethylene gas to artificially make them look “natural,” and it’s no wonder that they don’t taste as good as they do right off the farm. Do what you can to find a farmers’ market, or go get a big pot and start planting now!
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Grilled Fig and Arugula Salad with Goat Cheese
    Makes 6 servings
    Grilling figs brings out their honey-like juices and makes them even sweeter. They are a wonderful complement to the pungent arugula and the sharp and creamy goat cheese. The heat from the grilled figs wilts the arugula and lightly melts the cheese—all the better to bring out their flavor. To give the salad more color, use red grapes if you have green figs, or green grapes if you have the reddish-brown ones.
    9 large ripe brown or green figs, stemmed and cut in half lengthwise
    Â¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing the figs
    4 ounces (about 6 cups) baby or regular arugula leaves
    1 cup halved red or green seedless grapes
    Salt and freshly ground black pepper
    1 cup (4 ounces) crumbled goat cheese
    1 lemon, cut into 6 wedges
    1. Preheat the grill for direct cooking over medium-high heat (400°F).
    2. Lightly brush the figs with olive oil. Place them on the cooking grate and close the grill lid. Cook, flipping once, until seared with grill marks and the juices are bubbling, about 2 minutes per side. Remove the figs from the grill.
    3. Toss the baby arugula and grapes with the cup oil. Season with salt and pepper. Divide among six dinner plates. Top each with 3 fig halves and the crumbled goat cheese. Add a lemon wedge to each plate and serve immediately. Pass a peppermill at the table to add pepper to the figs and goat cheese, if desired.

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    * * *     Arugula     * * *
    I told you that Italians like it hot, and that even goes for our lettuce! We can’t get enough of peppery arugula. I love it in my salads, and some people cook with it, too. Standard arugula is sold at just about every Jersey farm stand during the summer.
    Be sure to remove the tough stems and wash the leaves very well in cold water to remove the grit. The best way to dry the leaves without crushing them is with a salad spinner, or you can blot them dry with paper towels.
    Baby arugula, which is a little less spicy, can be found in almost every supermarket produce section. Even though baby arugula can be pricey, it takes much less prep time since you don’t have to remove the stems—just rinse, spin, and serve.
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Iceberg Lettuce Wedge with Gorgonzola and Pancetta Crumbles
    Makes 4 to 6 servings
    This isn’t the steakhouse wedge salad with the super-thick blue cheese dressing,