Like pretty much every food, breakfast tastes better when you cook it on the grill. Gather your friends, fire one up, and give eggs, French toast, and lox and bagels deeper flavour and subtle smokiness.
Like pretty much every food, breakfast tastes better when you cook it on the grill. Gather your friends, fire one up, and give eggs, French toast, and lox and bagels deeper flavour and subtle smokiness.
Green Tomato Egg Cups With Grilled Salsa
SERVES: 4 ACTIVE TIME: 25 MINUTES TOTAL TIME: 45 MINUTES
> 4 firm green tomatoes > Kosher salt
> 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
> 1 small avocado, quartered and peeled
> 3 scallions, trimmed
> 1 small ear corn, husked
> 4 large eggs
> 1 small red or orange bell pepper, finely diced
> ½ cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
> 1 lime
1. Preheat grill to high. Trim tops off green tomatoes and use melon baller or spoon to scoop out insides, leaving tomatoes with 1cm to 2cm thick bottoms and sides. Sprinkle insides and outsides with salt, place upside down on plate, and let drain for 10 minutes. Pat insides and outsides of tomatoes dry with paper towel and rub oil on outsides.
2. Place tomatoes upside down on grill and cook for 6 minutes. Add avocado, scallions and corn, and after 2 more minutes, turn tomatoes right side up and also turn vegetables.
3. Crack 1 egg into small bowl, then carefully slide egg into a tomato. Repeat with remaining eggs and tomatoes. Cover grill and cook for 2 minutes. Remove avocado and scallions, replace cover, and grill for 4 minutes more. Remove corn, replace cover and grill for 4 minutes more or until egg whites are opaque but still jiggle (this will give you medium-cooked yolks).
4. While eggs cook, cut avocado into 1cm pieces, chop scallions, and slice corn kernels from the cob. Place in medium bowl, along with bell pepper and cilantro. Zest the lime directly over salsa mixture, then squeeze 1 tablespoon juice into bowl. Toss gently, season with salt, and toss again.
5. Use spatula to carefully transfer egg cups from grill to serving plates. Serve immediately with the salsa.
Nutrition facts per serving 175 calories, 10g fat (2.3g saturated), 15g carbohydrate, 9g protein, 4g fibre, 165mg sodium
Grilled Melon Salad With Mint
SERVES: 4 ACTIVE TIME: 15 MINUTES TOTAL TIME: 25 MINUTES
> ½ small ripe but firm orange melon (like cantaloupe, Charentais or Hami), seeded
> ½ small ripe but firm honeydew, seeded
> ¼ small seedless watermelon
> 5 tsp extra virgin olive oil
> ¼ cup fresh mint
> 2 tbsp fresh tarragon
> 1 tbsp pine nuts, lightly toasted
> Flaky sea salt
1. Preheat grill to medium high. Cut orange melon and honeydew into 4 wedges each and remove rinds. Cut watermelon crosswise into 2cm thick slices and remove rinds. Drizzle 1 teaspoon olive oil all over melon and rub to coat.
2. Grill melon for 4 minutes per side or until grill marks appear. Transfer to cutting board and cut into 2cm pieces. Arrange melon on four plates and scatter mint, tarragon and pine nuts on top. Drizzle with remaining 4 teaspoons oil and sprinkle with salt.
Nutrition facts per serving 170 calories, 8g fat (1g saturated), 26g carbohydrate, 3g protein, 2g fibre, 172mg sodium
Grilled French Toast With Gingered Plum Compote
SERVES: 4 ACTIVE TIME: 15 MINUTES TOTAL TIME: 20 MINUTES
> 3 ripe plums, chopped into 1cm pieces
> 1 large ripe yellow heirloom tomato, cut into 2cm pieces
> 1 tbsp candied ginger, finely chopped, plus slivers for garnish
> 2 tbsp plus 1 tsp maple syrup, plus more for serving (optional)
> 1 large egg > ¼ cup whole milk
> 1 tsp vanilla extract
> Salt
> 4 2cm slices wholegrain sourdough bread, halved
> 4 tbsp low-fat plain Greek yogurt
1. Preheat grill to medium. Place plums and tomato on large piece of foil, then scatter with chopped candied ginger and drizzle with 2 tablespoons maple syrup. Fold the foil to make a packet and crimp to seal.
2. In shallow dish, whisk together egg, milk, vanilla extract, a pinch of salt and remaining 1 teaspoon maple syrup. Dip both sides of each bread half in the mixture and place on grill, along with foil packet. Grill bread for 2 minutes per side or until grill marks appear. Grill packet for 4 to 5 minutes or until fruit is warm and slightly softened.
3. Transfer grilled bread to four plates. Carefully open packet and spoon plums, tomato and juices over French toast. Garnish with slivered candied ginger. Serve each with dollop of yogurt and, if desired, more maple syrup.
Nutrition facts per serving 305 calories, 2g fat (0.9g saturated), 59g carbohydrate, 10g protein, 7g fibre, 520mg sodium
Grilled “Smoked” Salmon With Everything Bagel Quinoa Crunch
SERVES: 4 ACTIVE TIME: 15 MINUTES TOTAL TIME: 2 HOURS, 25 MINUTES
> ½ cup sugar
> ¼ cup kosher salt
> 4 170g skin-on salmon fillets
> 1 tbsp golden quinoa
> 1 tsp sesame seeds, roasted
> 1 tsp dried onion or shallot, minced
> ¼ tsp flaky sea salt
> 2 ripe large tomatoes, sliced
> ½ red onion, very thinly sliced
> 1 tbsp capers, rinsed and drained
> 4 tbsp creme fraiche
1. Mix sugar and kosher salt in small bowl. Sprinkle thin, even layer of mixture in baking dish that will hold salmon snugly in a single layer. Place salmon on top of salt and sugar, and cover it with remaining mixture. Cover dish tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate to cure for at least 2 hours and up to overnight. (The longer the fish cures, the more it will resemble smoked salmon.)
2. Place quinoa in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, shaking pan often, for around 3 minutes until seeds smell nutty and pop. Transfer to small bowl and let cool completely. Stir in sesame seeds, dried onion and sea salt.
3. Preheat grill to medium high. Remove salmon from the cure, gently rinse fillets with water and pat dry. Place on grill skinside down, cover grill, and cook for 5 to 7 minutes until metal cake tester or knife inserted into the thickest part of salmon feels warm. Slide metal spatula between each fillet and its skin to lift salmon off grill (the flesh should slide right off the skin) and transfer to serving platter. Scrape skin off grill and discard.
4. Arrange tomatoes, onion and capers around salmon, sprinkle with the quinoa crunch, and serve with creme fraiche immediately.
Nutrition facts per serving 362 calories, 17g fat (5.3g saturated), 14g carbohydrate, 35g protein, 2g fibre, 1,118mg sodium
Make it boozy
This light, simple and refreshing cocktail turns brunch into a bash.
Citrus Ginger Sparkler
SERVES: 4 ACTIVE TIME: 5 MINUTES TOTAL TIME: 5 MINUTES
> ¼ cup citron vodka, chilled
> 1 cup fresh grapefruit juice, chilled
> 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
> 1 330ml bottle ginger ale
> 4 lime twists, for garnish (optional)
Fill four highball glasses with ice. In measuring cup or pitcher, stir together vodka, grapefruit juice and lime juice. Divide mixture among the glasses. Top off each with ginger ale. Garnish glasses with lime twists, if desired, and serve immediately.
Nutrition facts per serving 87 calories, 0g fat, 14g carbohydrate, 0g protein, 0g fibre, 7mg sodium
