Grill like you mean it.

  After yesterday's admission that I had not been pulling my weight in the outdoor cooking department, I stepped up again today to continue on my quest to make as many amends as possible. (To do what?? -Ed.). Lunch was lifted to even higher standards than usual with the impending arrival of my in-laws. Jaws would need to drop so there was work to be done.

  Tuna was to be the star of the show and with weather as spectacular as this, there could only be one way forward; the majestic salad Niçoise. Actually, what appeared was more of an homage to a Niçoise but it was close enough. You can see below the cornucopia of elements that filled the plates.

  The parts that spent time on the grill besides the tuna steak were the orange peppers and the potato wedges, so maybe I'm overstating the involvement of the BBQ in today's feast. You can probably recognise most of the other players so I won't list everything. Suffice it to say, everything on the plate got on famously.

  The best thing about salads is that there are no rules. You are free to put whatever you want on the plate (or in the bowl) and add whatever dressing over the top that you fancy. And unless you're serving up your salad as a dessert, the chances are you can eat endless amounts of it without the tiniest sense of remorse, (though fruit salad is generally a pretty healthy dessert).

  As we're blessed with warm weather at the moment, it's the perfect excuse to grab a pile of leaves, add a few of the usual suspects like tomatoes and cucumber and then either add a drizzle of dressing or go crazy with anything from a lump of cheese, a piece of grilled meat or fish, some roasted vegetables and lashings of your favourite sauce, and even some nuts, seeds, herbs or even fruit as a garnish. Phew, I'm dizzy with the thought of all the possibilities.

Fortunately the in-laws did drop their jaws, and that's the important bit. Now go and a find some jaws to drop yourself.

Kirk out

RevoltingFood.com