Easy Recipes for the Grill

I love cooking on the grill: I love the warm weather and not heating up or dirtying up my kitchen! And it’s fun to make the entire dinner on the grill, too! Now that I’ve cleaned off my porch so that we can eat there, here are some of my favorite easy recipes for the grill! Trust me: you’ll want to read to the end to catch my secret trick for perfectly grilled salmon!

Grilled Vegetables

My favorite veggies to grill are corn, tomatoes, and asparagus. Also good are onions, zucchini, and mushrooms.

Preheat the grill to high heat (or one setting lower than high heat, if you prefer). My grill takes about 8-10 minutes to get good and hot, which is just the right amount of time to prepare the veggies for grilling. Here’s how to prepare and cook each one, in order from longest cooking time to shortest:

For the corn, if the corn is still in the husk, leave it in the husk. Just wash it, then soak in cold water while the grill preheats (like in the above picture). Once the grill is ready, take the corn out of the water and it’s ready to go. If the corn is not still in the husk, then wrap in aluminum foil before putting it on the grill. You can add a pat of butter to the foil if you want, too. Grill for about 20 minutes, turning occasionally to avoid the husk or silks burning. Shuck the corn carefully (I wear oven mitts for this!) when done.

For the tomatoes, make a pouch out of heavy-duty aluminum foil. To do this, take a large piece of heavy-duty foil and fold it over to make a double layer. Put in cherry or grape tomatoes, fresh basil, salt, pepper, and olive oil in the middle. Then fold up the sides and fold over and crimp to close. Grill for about 15-20 minutes, shaking the foil packet with tongs periodically to stir things up in there!

For the asparagus, trim the tough ends, sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper, drizzle some olive oil over, and toss. Then put on the grill. (Seriously. It’s that easy.) Grill until just charred, about 7-8 minutes, turning at least once.

Here’s what the tomatoes look like when done:

They are great as a side dish, but they also can be tossed with pasta and make an amazing sauce. Yum!

But what’s for the main course?

Grilled Pork Tenderloin (or any other meat)

First make the marinade. This is the perfect marinade because it works well on pork, chicken, or flank or skirt steak.

In a zip-top bag, combine the pork tenderloin (or whatever meat you are using), a few smashed cloves of garlic, about 1/4 to a scant 1/2 cup of light brown sugar, and low-sodium soy sauce to cover and wet everything. You can also add lime juice, or replace 1/4 cup of the sugar with orange juice. Seal the bag and place in a dish or on a sheet pan (in case the bag leaks), and put in the fridge for at least two hours.

When you are ready to grill – once the grill is hot – put the pork tenderloin on the grill and discard the marinade (the zip-top bag makes this easy to do).  I use the “7-6-5” cooking time explained here – it works like a charm.  Cook the first side for 7 minutes. Then turn the tenderloin over and cook the other side for 6 minutes. Then turn the grill off and let it sit in the hot grill for 5 minutes.

Remove, then let it rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing to let the juices redistribute.

Grilled Salmon

Y’all, I have ripped up a good piece of salmon on the grill just like everyone else. But then I learned this awesome trick for getting perfectly grilled salmon every time!

The trick to grilling salmon is to NOT turn it. That’s right.

When you buy the salmon, get salmon fillets with the skin still on. Do not take the skin off – it’s going to help you here.

Season the skinless side of the salmon fillet -I just like salt and pepper on my grilled salmon, but you could baste it with your favorite barbecue sauce, too, and it’s yummy. Then place it on a hot grill with the skin side down on the grill.

Cook for 10 minutes without turning it. Don’t move it. Just let it sit and cook. Honest – this works. You just have to trust me.

When you are ready to remove the fish, take a spatula and slide it between the meat and the skin.

Take the fish off the grill, leaving the skin on the grill.

Then you can either remove the skin, or just keep the grill on a few extra minutes and let it burn away.

It’s the perfect way to ensure your salmon doesn’t stick to the grill!

What are you cooking on your grill? Share in the comments! I’d love to hear!

For more great recipes, check out my fooDIY posts here!