Directions:

1. Preheat grill, then add chicken and cook until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F (digital meat thermometers are your friend! They really help prevent over cooking).
2. While chicken is cooking, add strawberries and apricots to wooden skewers, alternating them.
3. Heat balsamic vinegar in a small sauce pan over medium heat until it begins to simmer. Watch closely and stir occasionally while it simmers and remove from heat once it has visibly begun to thicken.
4. Add fruit skewers to the grill and cook for a few minutes, then rotate and cook for a few more minutes.
5. Arrange cooked chicken and fruit on a plate. Drizzle with balsamic glaze, then sprinkle on green onions, basil and, if desired, Parmesan cheese.

Ingredients:

Directions:

Slice melons in half horizontally. Cut around the edges and cut inside of melon into a grid shape to cube it up. You should then be able to scoop out the cubes pretty easily with a spoon. Cut any large pieces in half and add melon to a large bowl. Cut cucumber in half lengthwise, cut in half again, and then slice each quarter into pieces about 1/4 inch thick. Add to bowl. Add lime juice and basil to the mixture and toss to combine. Scoop melon mixture back into hollowed out melon halves (you may need to drain extra juices out of the melons - I added my extra melon juices to some tonic water with a squeeze of lime for a fun treat!). Top each melon bowl with 1/8 cup of crumbled feta.

For delicious crust:
1/4 cup olive oil, salt, garlic powder, and dried herbs (optional) to taste -- mixed together in a small bowl.

Toppings:
Anything is good, so whatever you like! I will typically either use a prepackaged pizza sauce or do a blend of olive oil and herbs for the "sauce" which pairs particularly well with veggie pizzas. Chicken BBQ pizza is good this way, too. Mozzarella, Italian Cheese Blend, Cheddar and Feta are all good options for the cheese.

Directions:
1. Preheat grill to medium heat, ~300-350 degrees.

2. Dissolve yeast in warm water. Combine flour and salt in a large mixing bowl; then add yeast mixture. 

3. Mix until well combined, then knead until the dough is smooth.

Crust should have some nice grill marks in no time flat!

4. Divide dough in half and place each half on a piece of parchment paper.  Use a rolling pin to roll out each piece of dough to about 1/4 inch thick or less (mine usually end up being long, oval shapes.

5. Brush olive oil mixture on one side of each pizza crust and place oiled side down on the grill for about 30 seconds or until the outside of the crust is no longer sticky.

6. While the first side of the crust is cooking, brush the other side with olive oil; flip over and cook the second side of the crust the same way.

7. Turn off half of the burners in your grill and move pizza crusts away from direct flame. Add sauce, toppings and cheese.

8. Close the grill and cook until cheese is melted and bubbly. You may need to turn the heat up a bit since some of the burners are off and the pizza is not directly over the heat.


I made grilled pizza again the other day and decided to try a new twist. I wanted to make chicken BBQ pizza (I had grilled some chicken and frozen it, so I already had cooked chicken on hand -- part of the 40 pounds of chicken I just got cheap from Zaycon Fresh...but that's a story for another day!). Normally, I top my chicken BBQ pizza with cilantro for an extra zip. This year, cilantro grew like a weed in my garden and threatened to take over the entire thing (also a story for another day). I harvested grocery bags full of the stuff, even after giving away a bunch at work and making a couple batches of salsa.

Garden Cilantro, bundled and given away at work. This was a tiny portion of what was growing.

So, I made chimichurri with the rest (basically just cilantro, garlic and olive oil in the food processor) -- I froze the chimichurri in ice cube trays then put the cubes in a bag. After picking all of my cilantro, there actually wasn't much left in the garden and I didn't feel like scrounging. So, out came two cubes of chimichurri and I used that instead of my normal olive oil and garlic mixture to brush on the crust. It was quite tasty!

BBQ Chicken Pizza with Chimichurri

If you haven't tried grilled pizza yet, trust me: you are missing out. Give it a try and let me know your favorite way to make it!

Tom and I have always loved camping. One of the things that first drew me to Tom was his love for adventure and the outdoors, and one of the things I appreciate most about our relationship is being able to share those sorts of experiences together.  From annual camping trips to Manistee (Tom's been camping there every year for the past 25+ years), to backpacking on Isle Royale, to hiking at nearby parks and random weekend adventures -- it's been a lot of fun.  At the end of July, we got to add a new adventure to our list: Backcountry camping in the Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area.  It's something we've talked about doing for a long time, but had just never jumped on. As we were planning our annual Manistee camping trip this year and realized we might not get a camping site, we decided it was time to give the Dunes a try.  The Wilderness Area is directly adjacent to the campground we normally go to, and we'd hiked a lot of the trails already, but there was still more to explore.  And, to add an extra element of fun, this was the first year we'd have a dog with us!