Grilled Tomato, Bread & Basil Skewers

Summer has finally arrived! I love summertime. Warm weather, splashing in the pool, fresh fruit and vegetables from the farm and garden. We get to eat outside and dinner comes hot off the grill most evenings. I am always trying to find new creative side dishes that can either be prepared ahead of time or grilled. These skewers turned out great. If you never had grilled grape tomatoes you must try it, they get so juicy and sweet. It's fantastic!

This recipe will make enough for four skewers and you can easily change quantities.

For 4 Metal Skewers:

1 demi baguette or sourdough bread

24 grape tomatoes, rinsed

24 small basil leaves

3 Tbsp. olive oil

garlic salt to taste

You will only need about half of the demi baguette. Cut the bread into 24 cubes about the size of the tomatoes. Start skewering the tomatoes, basil leaves and bread, alternating until you have 6 of each on a skewer.

Brush generously with olive oil and season with garlic salt to your taste.

Grill them over medium high heat, turning them often so they won't burn, about 4 minutes all together.

***Tip***

If your basil leaves are bigger than the tomatoes, just cut them in half. You want them to be the size of the bread and the tomato so they don't get charred.

Orange Tarragon Salmon

I really enjoy making dishes that only use a few ingredients. I like them even more when they use herbs, they can really enhance the flavor of the main ingredient. My love for herbs started in my early childhood. I remember my grandma chopping up some curly leaf parsley and putting it in her rice soup and I would sit in the kitchen chewing on sprigs of parsley. When my parents bought their first house my mom planted a huge herb garden. There was borage and lovage, amongst lemon balm and rosemary. Not only would she use those for culinary treats, but thyme and oregano also made great home remedies when we came down with the sniffles or a sore throat.

The star in this recipes is tarragon, a nice spicy, anise flavored herb that, in combination with the orange juice, is unbeatable for grilled salmon.

Fish:

1 lb. sockeye salmon, skin on

For the marinade:

1/3 c. fresh orange juice

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. finely chopped tarragon

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

Pour the marinade into a resealable plastic bag and put the fish "meat" side down into it.

Close the bag and marinade for 2 to 4 hours.

To prepare the grill, turn all burners on high. When the temperature reaches 400F turn off the middle burner for indirect grilling. Set the salmon, skin side down, over the burner that's turned off. Close the lid and check after 8 minutes for your desired doneness. Ours was done after 10 minutes. Just season it with salt and pepper.

Now it's up to you to Dish It Your Way!