Nothing says spring or summer more than throwing something on the grill. Fresh country air, birds singing, the warm sun shining down and the sizzle of a meat and veggies cooking away on the open fire. I have major spring fever which means major grilling fever. Grilling is nearly impossible during our tundra winters of sub-zero temperatures, wind and piles of snow. Truthfully, I was never able to convince my husband that grilling was a good idea when it was negative 30 wind chills. I guess who can blame him.
So now that the thaw has hit, the grill is out and back to work. And my husband is happy to be out there cooking away. This wasn’t our first time on the grill this year. I think our winter was a little too long and our grill master (aka my husband) had a little mishap with the grill and some ribeye steaks my parents so graciously bought for us.
Apparently the story is he left the grill for no more than two minutes and came back to flames shooting out, which can leave you to guess how those ribeyes turned out…charred. Dry, burnt-to-a-crisp, no amount of ketchup can help, did I mention dry? And nice ribeye steaks, not hamburgers. He brought them in, we all sat down in shock that our first grilled-steaks of the season where nearly inedible.
No one had the heart to tell them we should go to plan B. So in silence we sat to eat. Crickets…until our three year old took her first bite and promptly spit it out stating that it tasted really bad. Still crickets and finally my mom broke the silence in utter laughter at how terrible they really were.
A few jokes later and an I-owe-you-new-steaks, he was able to nicely redeem himself with these beauties we had for lunch. Perfectly seasoned and perfectly cooked. Way to make a comeback babe, they were delicious! Especially placed on top of this beautiful salad with roasted asparagus and sweet potatoes, blackberries and topped with a homemade blackberry vinaigrette. When warm meats cold, that is when satiety sets in.
Spring is in the air. What are you grilling?
- Blackberry Dressing:
- ½ tsp Minced Garlic
- 1 tsp Dijon Mustard
- ½ cup Olive Oil
- 1 cup Blackberries
- 3 Tbsp Balsamic Vinaigrette
- 1 tsp Tamari Sauce
- Salt & Pepper, to taste
- Salad:
- Steaks
- Lettuce mix
- Blackberries
- Sweet Potatoes
- Asparagus
- Salt & Pepper, to taste
- Cinnamon, to taste
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Peel and cube sweet potatoes, drizzle with melted coconut oil and season with salt and pepper. Place on prepared pan.
- Trim asparagus ends and place on a separate pan.
- Bake both until tender and crisp on the outside, about 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat grill and season steaks with salt and pepper.
- Grill to your liking.
- Mix all ingredients of the dressing together in a food processor adding the olive oil slowly. Set aside.
- To assemble, place lettuce, asparagus and roasted sweet potatoes on a plate. Add blackberries, cut steak and drizzle with the blackberry dressing.