Happy 4^th of July weekend – I hope everyone had and is still having a safe fun filled weekend with family and friends.

I was lucky enough to have 4 days off for the holiday! I played a little golf with my girlfriends; had lunch and relaxed on the patio on Thursday.  Friday I spent some quality time in my garden weeding. With my busy schedule I can’t always give my veggies the love and care they need, so when I do weed I do my very best to get ALL of the weeds out at least 3 times during the summer.  It becomes much more manageable; for me anyway.

While out on the patio the other day I was reading one of my favorite magazines Fine Cooking. Every time I read this wonderful magazine there are at least 3 dishes I want to try and make. Friday was going to be the best day of the weekend and it did not disappoint; it was absolutely gorgeous out. After weeding I made my grocery shopping list for one of the recipes I found and headed out.

I am going to give you a glimpse of how busy and crazy my life truly is. When I left for the store, which is 20-25 minutes away; there were going to be 4 of us for dinner.  While in the 3^rd aisle of the store my husband calls to say he invited 6 more people over for dinner on the patio. I just started to laugh. I thought about changing my plan since I have never tried what I wanted to make and wasn’t sure if I could pull it off but what the hell; I got this!

The picture looked amazing and everything was cooked on the grill and thrown; OK probably placed nicely together on a platter. Sounded easy enough to me; and I seem to have no problem breaking rules of no testing recipes on company so why not AND they called it summer on a plate. When better than Fourth of July weekend to try “summer on a plate”

Skirt Steak and Grilled Vegetable Salad

I wasn’t off to a great start, the store didn’t have skirt steak; thankfully they had flank steak – I will prevail

Steak

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil

3 cloves of garlic, minced

3 large sprigs of fresh rosemary, bruised = crush with the dull side of the knife

3 sprigs of fresh thyme, bruised the same way

1 ½ lb skirt or flank steak, trimmed of excess fat

1 tsp kosher salt

½ tsp freshly cracked black pepper

Marinate the steak for at least 1 hour on the counter or up to 6 hours in the fridge.

Combine the oil, garlic, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper in either a baking dish or zip-top bag large enough for the steak.

Vegetables

3 tbs chopped fresh basil

3 tbs extra virgin olive oil

2 tbs balsamic vinegar

1 tbs chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

2 cloves of garlic, minced

Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Veggie Vinaigrette

In a small bowl combine 2 tbs of basil, 1 tbs of oil with the vinegar, parsley and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

2 red bell peppers, seeded and quartered

2 small yellow summer squash, sliced on a sharp diagonal ½ inch thick

2 small zucchini, sliced the same as the squash

2 ears of corn, husked

1 cup of cherry tomatoes, if you can get the different colored ones; they add a lot to the dish but don’t fret if you can’t

2 scallions thinly sliced on a diagonal.

Rub the peppers, squash, zucchini and corn with olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. On a 400-470’ gas or charcoal grill Place veggies on the hot grates turning occasionally until tender with nice grill marks. Roughly 10-15 minutes. Arrange all but the corn on the platter and drizzle with the veggie vinaigrette.

Remove the steak from the marinade, season generously with salt and pepper, and grill, flipping once, until grill marks are on both sides and is cooked to your liking, best if cooked to medium rare about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a cutting board and let it rest for 5 minutes.

Cut the corn from the cob and transfer to a medium bowl. Add the tomatoes and remaining olive oil and basil. Season with salt and pepper and gently toss. Spoon half the corn and tomato mixture over the other veggies. Slice the steak against the grain into manageable pieces and arrange over the veggies. Scatter the remaining corn and tomatoes over the steak. Sprinkle with the scallions and kosher salt and serve.