grill | The Little GSP

Daylight savings time has begun! In southeastern PA our first week of daylight savings also happens to be the most beautiful week of March weather that we’ll probably ever see (65-70 degrees and sunny every day!) so we are taking full advantage of our extra hour of daylight by doing huge amounts of yard work. Today after work Matt dug up the last of two enormous boxwood bush stumps while I cut up the boxwood branches into manageable trashcan-sized pieces. By the time we were done our outdoor work we were tired and not in the mood to make a crazy, involved dinner. We went to our favorite grocery store (The Fresh Market in Glen Mills) and picked up a few ingredients to make this yummy, fancy-looking meal! (Well, I think it looked fancy… maybe it was just the rectangular plate!)

Salmon Burgers with Dill Sauce, Grilled Asparagus, and Oven-Baked Waffle Fries

You will need…
1/2 Bag of “Family Size” Alexia Waffle Fries
2 Premade Salmon Burgers (from The Fresh Market or your favorite grocery store)
Asparagus Spears (Thin, tender spears are the best!)
Olive Oil
Salt, Pepper, and Garlic Powder to Taste
2 Hamburger-sized Sandwich Rolls, cut in half lengthwise (we used The Fresh Market’s Sandwich Rolls, sold in an 8 pack)

For the Sour Cream Dill Sauce…
3 Tablespoons Sour Cream
2 Teaspoons Dried Dill
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Directions:

Spread half of the fries out on a cookie sheet and place in a preheated 400°F oven for 28 minutes (or use whatever temperature and time your oven-baked fries need).

Place a flat grill pan on your grill and preheat the grill to medium heat. This year we’re trying out a Weber Grill Pan and so far we’ve been very happy with it. (The Kitchenaid pan that we bought from Target didn’t hold up very well last summer.) Place each salmon burger carefully on the preheated grill pan. Grill the salmon burgers for approximately 7 minutes per side.

Asparagus and Salmon Burgers cooking on our Weber Grill Pan

Wash the asparagus spears and then toss them in olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Spread the asparagus spears out on the grill pan next to the salmon burgers. Grill the asparagus for approximately 10 minutes (longer if you have thicker asparagus).

While the burgers and aspargus are grilling, assemble your sour cream dill sauce by mixing the sour cream, dill, salt, pepper, and garlic powder together in a small bowl.

Sour Cream Dill Sauce

When the grilling is complete, place your burgers on the sandwich rolls and top with a dollop of sour cream dill sauce. Add your asparagus and waffle fries to the plate and voila! you have a beautiful Monday-night-of-daylight-savings meal. Enjoy!

We’ve had an unusually warm Winter this year. Usually January and February are characterized by nightly (and sometimes daily) below-freezing temps, salt-brined roads, and melting snow piles in parking lots. This year, it has hardly dipped below freezing at night and we’ve gotten a grand total of around 2 inches of snow. It’s not all bad though because the warm temperatures mean that we can use our grill to make yummy meals like Tequila shrimp! This recipe is from our Weber Book of Grilling with a few additions from me.

Tequila Shrimp

You will need…
1/3 cup Tequila
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
2 tablespoons Lime Juice
3-4 cloves of Minced Garlic
1 fined chopped Jalapeño Pepper
2 tablespoons chopped Cilantro
1 teaspoon ground Coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground Black Pepper
1 pound Shrimp, peeled and deveined

Directions:
Place the first 8 ingredients (Tequila through Black Pepper) in a large resealable bag and ‘mix’ by squeezing/shaking the bag gently. Add the shrimp to the bag and coat them with the marinade. Put the bag in the fridge for approx. 30 minutes.

Preheat your grill and grill pan (we have a large wok-shaped skillet with small holes it in but a flat grill ‘tray’ works well too). Remove the shrimp from the fridge and slide them out of the bag onto the hot grill pan. Grill over direct heat for 3-5 minutes until they turn nice and pink. Serve warm!