Fourth of July Grilled Pizza

Happy Fourth of July!

Most of you are probably making burgers, hot dogs, and corn on the cob today. Drew has to work, so we decided to celebrate a little early and made this on July 3rd: Grilled Pizza!

Grilled Swiss Chard Pizza w/garlic, red peppers, & feta

A friend of mine said she made grilled pizza the other night since it's sweltering hot on the east coast. Who wants to turn on an oven and make pizza when it's 100 degrees outside? While it's cool and comfortable here, her rave reviews convinced me I had to try it.

I used this dough recipe, and substituted half of the flour for whole wheat. I made two smaller pizzas so it would be easier to handle and flip on the grill. They were about 10 inches.

Swiss Chard, Garlic, & Red Pepper Grilled Pizza

makes 2 small pizzas

-8-10 medium to large stems of swiss chard

-4 cloves of garlic

-1 sweet bell pepper

-Sauce and cheese as you like

-Olive oil for coating the dough and grill

-Chopped fresh basil

Oregano & Cumin Salad Dressing

-1 tbsp fresh oregano

-1 tsp ground cumin

-1 clove chopped garlic

-3 tbsp olive oil

-1/4 c rice vinegar

-1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

(Keeps for a few days in the 'fridge.)

When the dough is almost done rising, start prepping. It's important to have everything ready as this pizza cooks fast. No time for multi-tasking. I went ahead and made this salad: baby swiss chard, green onions, radishes, yellow carrots, and the dressing above. Making things exclusively with veggies I've grown never gets old!

Rough chop and lightly sauté the full sized swiss with the sweet bell pepper and two large cloves of garlic. We love garlic! Especially the Spanish Roja variety we grew this year. But feel free to use any toppings you have at home. The swiss chard plants are going crazy right now and will probably go to seed soon, so we're eating lots of chard these days. Set your toppings aside and let cool. Be careful not to overcook the greens since they will cook some more once they're on the grill. 

pretty rainbow swiss chard

When the grill is warm, but not too hot, brush olive oil on the grates. You can use a paper towel or brush. 

Sully wants some pizza...

Set up the toppings, sauce, and cheese on a table near the grill. Put the dough on a cookie sheet and brush one side with olive oil. Quickly flip the pizza dough onto the grill. Time will vary depending on the temperature of your grill. Ours took about a minute! Flip the dough and then add the sauce, cheese, and toppings. Cover the grill, and let cook for 3 more minutes. Remove from heat, cut, and serve with fresh chopped basil. 

YUM! This was a beautiful summer dinner. While a little time consuming to prep, it was really fun to make together, and certainly cooked a lot faster than oven pizza.

Watermelon Two Ways: Spicy Melon Salad & Watermelon Rind Chutney

Nothing says a graduation party like watermelon!

I finished my masters program last week (yay!) so we had some folks over for a bbq style potluck after the ceremony. My friends know how to do it up right, and without fail, we always have too much food. Between multiple melons and one Edible Arrangement, my fridge has been stocked full of fruit for days.

We've been mostly eating it on its own, but it didn't seem like it was going to last much longer so I blended half of the remaining watermelon and put it in the freezer. I'm thinking slushie watermelon cocktails once the weather really warms...

I used the remaining watermelon and cantaloupe to make this salad which is a slightly altered version of one my friend Erin recently made.

SPICY MELON SALAD

• Approximately 3 cups cubed melon 
• Handful of blanched snap peas
• 1/2 cup chopped unsalted dry roasted peanuts
• Chopped fresh mint, thai basil, cilantro, and cilantro flowers
• Juice of one lime
• Pinch of cayenne pepper

This recipe is easy-peasy, and super addictive. All you do is mix it up.

Also, did you know you can eat cilantro flowers?

I can't say that I'm big on edible flowers, but I threw a couple in there to try it out, and they're delicious! They have a strong almost concentrated cilantro taste. I recently saved a bolted cilantro plant so that I could harvest coriander seeds. Unfortunately, waiting for coriander seeds can take several weeks after the plant flowers (especially if it's not very hot). So, if you're growing impatient waiting on your coriander, you can add cilantro flowers to salads and salsas. Cilantro flowers also attract bees and other beneficial insects to your garden, so if you have the space, try letting one bolt this summer.


WATERMELON RIND CHUTNEY
I am a southerner, "born and bred" as they say, and I do love watermelon rind pickles. I like them because they're usually sweet and crunchy, and I also like the idea of using all of the watermelon. I wanted to make something different, so I started looking through the food preservation book my mom bought me the last time she was in town. Thanks, Mom!

I used the green tomato chutney recipe as a guide and came up with this version of watermelon rind chutney. It's kinda like a jam, kinda like a relish, and sweet and spicy at the same time.

1. Begin by removing both the skin and most of the red fruit from the white rind. Slice or chop the rind, cover with saltwater, and leave overnight in a bowl or jar. I had about 5 cups watermelon rind.


I had two varieties of watermelon and noticed that the rind was much thicker and crisper on one of the melons compared to the other. If you're growing your own watermelons and plan to do some pickling, you can read all you'd ever care to know about about various watermelon varieties and their rind circumferences here.

2. The next day, rinse your watermelon, and put it in a saucepan with:-


-1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
-1/2 cup water
-1 cup sugar
-2 tablespoons minced jalapeno
-2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
-1 tsp black peppercorns
-1 tsp pickling spice
-1/2 tsp ground clove
-1/2 tsp ground allspice

3. Bring to a boil, and then simmer for a little under an hour, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened. It really does turn a pretty jeweled color. This didn't make enough to justify formally processing and canning, so I plan to refrigerate one jar and give the other to a friend. This should keep in the fridge for a few weeks.