Grilling is Not for Sissies!

Grilling is DEFINITELY not for sissies!  If you are a female reader who is going for the June Cleaver look, grilling is not for you, for you will most certainly find yourself playing with fire.  I am absolutely certain June Cleaver never played with fire, never hovered over a hot grill while Ward was making his way home from the office.  When you commit yourself to becoming a grill master, flareups will be typical and the aroma of smoke will linger on your person long after the last bite of your meal has been devoured.  And hanging around all that fire and smoke--you guessed it--leads to perspiration, sometimes actual sweating ensues.  If you are sporting a hairstyle that goes limp with heat, you can kiss that look goodbye. You should also keep in mind that being outside puts you at the mercy of the voracious appetite of any flying insect who may be hovering nearby. A hungry mosquito can hone in on a female griller faster than ants show up at a picnic.  And then, of course, if you share the outdoors with any pets, particularly large ones, they will position themselves between you and the grill, wrap themselves around your legs and do their very best to work their nose into whatever meat you may be balancing. Be assured they will not leave your side for even a minute, even if you use your "I mean business" voice, because they ain't stupid.  They know EVERY griller is bound to drop something when they are flipping it and you look particularly inept to your very intelligent dog.

All that said, I think every woman who loves to cook, and perhaps even more particularly those who don't, should embrace the grill, make friends with fire, go in search of her inner macho and get to know that behemoth fire pit residing in her back yard.  I can give you three good reasons right off the bat, and I'm sure many of you can add to my list quite easily.  For one thing, grilled food is generally healthier.  Even fattier cuts of meat divest themselves of much of their fat on a grill and the flavor infused by grilling can make up for a lack of fat in leaner meats.  Second, with just a little thought and preparation, you can prepare a whole meal on the grill, making cleanup a snap.  If you take just a few minutes to clean up after your kitchen prep, with the help of a little foil you can serve your dinner with a clean kitchen behind you.  And third, the sense of empowerment you get from knowing your way around a grill is not something to be minimized.  When I fire up the grill and grab the BIG tongs and flipper, I feel strong and capable, formidable and unflinching, a force with which to be reckoned.  In the words of the immortal Helen Reddy (check Wikipedia if you are under 50) "I am woman, hear me roar."

So girls, get grilling! Don your best heavy duty apron, grab the BIG tongs and enjoy this fall weather as you impress someone (maybe best of all, impress yourself) with what you can accomplish on the grill.

Chicken and Asparagus on the Barbie
Recipe posted feeds two.

Marinade for 2 chicken breasts:
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
juice of 2 lemons
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dry oregano
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed

1 "bunch" of asparagus
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
2 "hands full" of arugula

1.  Mix together all ingredients for the marinade.

2.  Sprinkle both sides of chicken with salt and pepper.  Pour all but 1/3 cup of the marinade into a quart-size plastic bag with the chicken and refrigerate at least a half hour.  Reserve the 1/3 cup of marinade to drizzle on the chicken after grilling.  If you clean up everything you have used in the kitchen up to this point, you will have very little cleaning to do after dinner.

3.  Preheat a gas grill or charcoal grill to medium high heat. Line a baking sheet with 2 layers of foil.  (This tip is one I learned from my mother and really helps make cleanup a snap.  The top layer will be thrown away after everything goes on the grill, leaving you a clean piece of foil when you remove food from the grill.)  Toss the asparagus on the foil with a good drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and pepper.  Put the bag of chicken on the baking sheet and transport all to the grill along with another piece of heavy duty foil big enough to cover half the grill.

4.  Line half the grill with the heavy duty foil.  Put asparagus on the foil and use tongs to spread out to a single layer.  Remove the chicken from the bag letting most of the marinade drip back into the bag and place chicken at an angle on the other side of the grill. Cover grill for about 1-1/2 to 2 minutes.

5.  Open grill again and turn the chicken 1/4 turn.  This will give you a nice cross-hatch of grill marks on your chicken.  Use the tongs to move the asparagus around so it can brown on all sides.  Close grill again for about 2 minutes.  From this point on, every time you open the grill, move the asparagus around a little.

6.  Remove the top layer of foil from the baking sheet.  Wrap foil around the bag with the leftover marinade and throw away.

7.  Open grill and flip the chicken.  At this point, I insert a "poultry button" into the thickest part of one of the pieces of chicken.  A poultry button is a very small meat thermometer designed just for chicken.  It doesn't give you the inner temperature of the meat, it just shows you when it is done.  [Click here to find out more about a poultry button.] Chicken will be almost done at the point you flip it.  Close the grill another couple of minutes and and then check it again.

8.  When chicken is done, the asparagus will most likely be done, also.  Remove chicken and asparagus and place on the foil lined baking tray.

9.  To serve, place a clump of arugula on each plate.  Place the chicken alongside the arugula and drizzle both the chicken and the arugula with the reserved 1/3 cup of marinade.  (This is the marinade you reserved at the very beginning of the recipe that has never come into contact with raw chicken.)  Divide the asparagus between the two plates.

10.  Throw away the piece of foil on the baking sheet.  This may be overkill, but I put the baking sheet in the dishwasher just in case any chicken juices may have seeped underneath the foil.

Note:  I served this meal without bread, but if you have a warming rack on your grill, you could easily wrap some bread in foil and place it on the warming rack the whole time you are grilling the chicken and it will be ready at the same time.  I had some figs beginning to wane in the vegetable crisper, so I stuffed those with a little goat cheese and placed on the grill next to the asparagus.  If I had bacon, I would have wrapped the stuffed figs with little pieces of bacon.  I served the cooked figs drizzled with a little honey and balsamic vinegar.

YOU GO, GIRLS!  And guys, too...for my gentlemen readers, we are not wanting to infringe on your territory.  We just want to SHARE a little.