Grilled Peaches and Grilled Watermelon: Yes, it’s dinner.

Peach season is upon us and despite eating them at almost every stop on my food tours with Local Table Tours, I still can’t get enough of them! Palisade peaches and Rocky Ford watermelon are in my house and so they wound up on the grill for a simple dinner of grilled peach and grilled watermelon with massaged (local) kale, quinoa with ancient grains, and toast… but not just any toast- orange zest and honey butter toast. Top it off with a little chevre and you have dinner.

Here’s what I did for this super simple meal-

I cut kale into long, thin strips known as a chiffonade cut, drizzled it with olive oil and sea salt, and massaged it for a couple minutes. Then I set this aside to soften and didn’t come back to it until it was time to eat. On the stove I cooked a quinoa/ancient grain blend according to directions and let that sit to cool to room temperature as well.

Next, I mixed a couple tablespoons of olive oil with a few teaspoons of honey, juice of 1/3 of an orange, and a nice heap of orange zest. I brushed this over the watermelon and peaches before grilling them.

Peaches and watermelon only need to be grilled for a few minutes on each side since they’re delicate and full of water.

The grilling process brings out their sugars and makes them taste a little sweeter, but not too sweet that they can’t be the star of the show on the dinner plate.

While the watermelon and peaches were grilling I mixed a little honey and orange zest with softened butter that I spread over both sides of my bread.

My tiny charcoal grill can only handle so much at a time, so when the watermelon and peaches were done, the bread went on for a few minutes on each side.

The texture of grilled watermelon will fool you into thinking you’re enjoying a steak. Well, not really. But it’s a hell of a lot healthier for you 🙂

Give it a try. Summer isn’t over yet!

Palisade Peaches in Vanilla Bean Syrup

August is here and Palisade Peaches are in their prime. Last year Chef Sean made some vanilla bean syrup for his canned peaches, and they were some of our FAVORITE jars to open in the winter. Looks like we’ve now started a yearly tradition.

These peaches are pretty easy to make. This post here isn’t the place to learn the basics of canning, so be sure to familiarize yourself with sterilizing jars, water baths, etc. if you’ve never canned before. I also don’t have ratios and proper measurements… it’s more of an idea for you home canners to try.

First, Sean made a vanilla bean syrup by boiling equal parts sugar and water with a couple vanilla beans that he sliced in half long-ways and scraped out the beautiful caviar-like black beads. He let this reduce and cool completely.

Next, the peaches were blanched, which means boiled for a few minutes and then plunged into an ice bath. This allows the skins to be easily removed.

When cool to the touch, he sliced them in half and removed the pits, stacked them in jars, covered them in syrup, and processed them in a water bath for 15-20 minutes. After removing the jars from the boiling water, set them somewhere and allow them to cool. You’ll hear the pop of the lids after a little while, letting you know they’re properly sealed. Store in a cool place until winter.

Enjoy!

Bourbon Peach Sorbet

Peaches. I just love them. I wait for them all year until they are local, ripe, delicious, juicy, sweet, velvety, irresistible… I guess I should say I long for them all year and then eat as many as possible until they are out of season. Then I wait and wait and wait..

Well, it’s that time of year: peach season! PEACH SEASON! I am thrilled! I was consumed by the thought of peaches today after Nathan Miller, the esteemed chef/baker/chocolatier from The Tasterie Truck, asked some friends if they had any requests for desserts with local Colorado peaches.  It had me thinking of peaches all day, and on a near-100 degree day, I had Bourbon Peach Sorbet on my mind when I came home from work.

It’s super easy if you have a Vitamix. You can make sorbet in less than one minute with fresh, seasonal fruits and add as little sugar as you’d like.  I like that.

Peach and Lettuce Smoothie