Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Grill to thrill
Skip the hot dog and try kebabs, charred greens.
Burgers and hot dogs will sizzle across the country, from grand outdoor kitchens to fire-escape patios, as Memorial Day launches the season of grilling.
Some of those old standbys are bound to be scorched, the sacrifices we make when our attention turns from the heat of the fire to that of the talks we’ve longed to have. When we’re finally face-to-face with friends and family normally far-flung, those burnt offerings may still do fine when we’re hungry enough for seconds or thirds.
However, we could capture that primal perfume of smoke with ingredients a bit more forgiving. Consider a verdant green platter — not salad or raw crudites, but whole sides of charred escarole, heaped high over ricotta and thick slabs of sourdough bread, with grill marks the envy of any steakhouse rib-eye. These toasts will hold up all night if you can.
The recipe can be found in the new cookbook “Eat a Little Better: Great Flavor, Good Health, Better World” by Sam Kass, who rose from personal chef for a couple who lived on the South Side of Chicago named Barack and Michelle to senior adviser for nutrition policy in the Obama administration. More than 90 simple yet stunning recipes help you eat better, not right, Kass writes. Along the way, he explains how small, delicious steps can add up to big change.
If meat is a must on the Memorial Day menu, an all-American story from “The Kefir Cookbook: An Ancient Healing Superfood for Modern Life, Recipes From My Family Table and Around the World” brings us kebabs. Ground beef and lamb — since it’s still technically spring — are mixed with fresh herbs, onions and warm spices, then shaped like flattened sausages over skewers. They cook as easily as hot dogs or burgers, and they absolutely eat easier, what with the handy sticks delivering smoky flavor both foreign and familiar.
Author Julie Smolyansky is the CEO of Lifeway Foods, perhaps best known for its kefir. In an immigrant, rags-to-riches story, Smolyansky’s parents founded the company by first making the tangy cultured milk at home. But the kebab recipe, Uzbek shashlik in the book, comes from her stepfather, who married her mother after her father died.
“(T)he first time I met my new stepfather, I was downright mean. But when I saw how happy he made my mom, when I realized he offered companionship and friendship, I put my selfish attitude aside and I gave him a shot,” she writes. Her inclusion of his recipe and the story behind it is a touching testament to tolerance, forgiveness and an epic extended family.
Like kefir, shashlik (which means skewered meats across a huge swath of the world, from Eastern Europe to Central Asia) has ancient roots. A global street food, shashlik is essentially like barbecue.
If outdoor grilling is not an option, you can make these recipes in your kitchen. Use a cast-iron grill pan if you have one, your cast-iron skillet if not. Prep: 10 minutes Cook: 8 minutes Makes: 4 servings Nutrition information per serving: