Entertaining

Summer Grilling: Caribbean-inspired meal

Close-up of grilled ribs with a jerk rub. Photo by food-o-graphy/Shutterstock

Flo came over for dinner last night. We’re catsitting for her, so this was a chance for Troy to get used to his temporary home for the next week. He was annoyed, but seems to have accepted his fate.

I used two recipes from Summer Grilling (shameless plug: on newsstands now!) and one that’s coming up in the summer issue of Cottage Life. For the ribs, I rubbed in Caribbean Spice Paste (p. 48), a mellow version of jerk seasoning. In the cookbook, it’s in the chicken section, but there’s no reason not too use it on ribs. That was one of the goals in choosing recipes for Summer Grilling—I wanted lots of mix-and-match rubs, marinades, and sauces.

For fun, I grilled the romaine. Yes, it’s trendy (and easy—brush with oil, sear over high heat) but I’m also a long-time fan of cooked lettuce. My great-aunt used to braise it, something I’ve never been able to do well. Lettuce cooked with peas is a classic French dish, as is cream of lettuce soup. A little slivered lettuce is terrific on top of chicken soup.

I topped the romaine with Mango Salsa (p. 105). Yum.

And next to all that, Coconut Rice and Beans. But for that recipe, you’ll have to wait for our summer issue. Won’t be long.

 

 

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