How to make Italian Style Grilled Vegetables

Last night I had a dream I was Woody Allen's chef and I was making him Grilled Vegetables for Memorial Day... 

I'm always very happy to go to barbecues and find a side of vegetables. Salads are fine, but you need a fork to eat that. Grilled vegetables can be eaten with you hands and are a great addition to a burger. They also make a great side if you're having steak or fish.

For 2 people: 1 Zucchini, 1 Eggplant, 1 Pepper

What's good on the grill? 
Peppers
Eggplant
Zucchini
Yellow Squash
Onions
Tomatoes
Asparagus

For 2 people:
1 Zucchini
1 small Eggplant
1 Pepper
(see picture)





Prepare the vegetables
1. Rinse all the veggies.

2. Peppers: cut them in half, cut out the seeds inside and the white lining of the vegetable. Cut in even strips.
Zucchini: cut in long strips, a little on the thick side especially if they're going on an outdoor grill.
Eggplant: you can eat the skin but I like mine pealed. Cut "circles" out of it (like the picture) or cut through the length of it if it's a thin eggplant.
Tomatoes and Onions: start cutting circles from the "bottom"
Asparagus: leave it whole.

3. Season with oil and salt BEFORE they go on the grill.

Grill it!
Put it on the grill and once the griddle has made convincing marks on one side, turn them. On a medium hot grill about 5 minutes per side. Don't burn them.

Enjoy!
Valentina
Real Italian Kitchen

Seafood Salad - Summer's favorite

Seafood Salad - appetizer size

Today I would like to interest you in a wonderful warm dish that is served all over the coasts of Italy in the Summer Time.
The Seafood Salad is a bed of cold vegetables (and sometimes fruit) topped by simply cooked fresh seafood (shrimp, prawns, lobster, calamari, clams, muscles).

It's a little expensive, but the quality of the fish makes the salad, so don't go cheap on the fish choice, or your dish WILL suck. If you don't have a lot of money and would still like to enjoy such marvelous invention of culinary art, make it an appetizer and buy less fish.
I save it for special occasions. I like to pair it with a nice bottle of Champagne (Piper, Moet Chandon, Veuve Cliquot are the cheapest ones and they sell in the States for around $40) or a more affordable bottle of Vermentino, a wonderful italian wine peculiar of Toscana, Liguria. Actually at Wine and Spirits I recently saw for sale a Vermentino LUNAE, which is from the area where I'm from. I've visited their vineyard many times with my father (who's a sommelier) and I've always enjoyed their selections.

So, how to make a Seafood Salad. 

Raw vegetables cut in strips:
Carrots, celery, fennel, radish, tomatoes, peppers, mixed green. Pick and choose the ones you want to use or use all of them, for endless combinations.

Seafood:
shrimp, prawns, lobster, calamari, clams, muscles. The last time I made this I only chose shrimp and jumbo shrimp (carabineros) and it was amazing.

Cooking directions:
Shrimp, prawns, lobster, calamari: boil in salted water for no more then 5 minutes. If you overcook these things they get really tough. It's better to keep it undercooked, if it's fresh this stuff can be consumed raw, so you risk nothing.
Clams and muscles: cook in a large pan with a cup of water, cover with a lid until the clam inside is a more intense color (orange for muscles, light brown for clams).

Vinaigrette for 2 people:
3 table spoon of extra virgin olive oil
1 table spoon of lemon (freshly squeezed)
1 table spoon of orange juice (freshly squeezed)
1 tea spoon of mustard
salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with the veggies on the bottom, the fish nicely displayed on top and the vinaigrette on the side or right on top of the food.

Enjoy!
Valentina
Real Italian Kitchen