This weekend marks the unofficial start of the summer season, and what better way to celebrate than to get grilling. Grilled dishes can turn an ordinary meal into a gourmet feast. Fortunately, you don’t have to be a top chef to create the following scrumptious recipes. Simply dust off your grills, grab some basic ingredients and get cooking:
RED HOT PEPPER BURGERS
Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1/4 cup your favorite chunky salsa
4 jalapeno peppers
4 hamburger buns, split
1/4 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
2 tablespoons sliced pitted ripe olives
Directions:
Combine ground beef and 1/4-cup salsa in large bowl, mixing lightly but thoroughly. Lightly shape into four thin patties.
Place one pepper in center of each patty, wrap beef around pepper to enclose, sealing seams and forming ball. Flatten balls into patties. Patties should be about 1-inch thick.
Place patties on grill over medium hot heat. Grill, uncovered, 15 to 16 minutes to medium doneness, until beef is not pink in center.
Top burgers with tomato and olives before serving on buns.
BACON RANCH BURGERS
Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 tablespoon dry Ranch dressing mix
4 slices Cheddar cheese
8 slices cooked bacon
4 hard rolls
One bottle Ranch Salad Dressing
Directions:
Combine ground beef and dry Ranch dressing mix. Mix together lightly.
Form the meat mixture into 4 patties.
Cook burgers on the grill. When the burgers are just about done, top with cheese. Let cheese melt.
Toast rolls on grill, and then spread ranch dressing on both sides of the roll.
Top burger with lettuce, tomato, two slices of bacon and the top of the roll.
SIMPLE GRILLED VEGGIES
Ingredients:
Yellow and green zucchini
Eggplant
Mushrooms
Roma tomatoes
Asparagus
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Minced Garlic
Parsley
Directions:
Coat vegetables with virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, minced garlic and parsley, then grill for about 10 minutes, turning occasionally.
Eat with steak, burgers or grilled chicken OR:
Make a grilled antipasto platter with different cheeses, such as fresh mozzarella, sharp provolone, Asiago, or Fontina.
Mix the grilled vegetables with pasta and fresh mozzarella.
Pair the eggplant slices with sliced sharp provolone cheese to create a tasty Panini.
Serve the grilled asparagus with shredded Parmesan, Romano, or Asiago cheese.
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