July 4
And on the Fourth...
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- Herb Grilled Tuna [View Recipe]
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Ingredients
- 1.3 pounds tuna
- 1 tablespoon parsley (cleaned and chopped)
- 1 tablespoon oregano (cleaned and chopped)
- 1 tablespoon mint (cleaned and chopped)
- 1 clove garlic
- 3 tablespoons oil
- salt & pepper
- 1 lemon (cleaned)
Instructions
We start by preheating our gas grill to medium-high heat.
We rinse and pat dry the tuna steaks and place them on a plate. In a ramekin, we combine the herbs, and add in the garlic with our garlic press. We add the oil and salt and pepper. Using our microplane, we add the zest from the lemon. The rest of the lemon we cut into slices and set aside. We stir the sauce and put half of it in a prep bowl for drizzling on the tuna steaks at the end.
We use the remaining herb sauce to coat the steaks, rubbing it onto both sides of the tuna. We add additional salt and pepper and grill for a few minutes on each side until desired doneness. We want ours medium to medium rare but we leave the fish on longer for the children.
We serve half a steak per person, with the lemon slices, and drizzled with the reserved sauce.
- Greek-Style Dip with Grilled Pita [View Recipe]
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Ingredients
- 2 6-inch pita
- .5 cup gazpacho
- 3 medium cucumbers (peeled and seeded)
- 1 pepperoncini
- 6 olives
- 1 tablespoon oregano (cleaned and chopped)
- 1 tablespoon parsley (cleaned and chopped)
- .25 cup cheese (crumbled)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
- pepper
Instructions
We start by preheating our gas grill. When hot, we grill the pita until crisp on both sides.
Meanwhile, we pour the gazpacho in a large bowl. We dice the cucumber, yielding ½ cup. We slice the pepperoncini, discarding the stem, and add it with the cucumber to the gazpacho. Next, we slice the olives, yielding 1½ tablespoons, and add them to the bowl with the oregano, parsley, feta, and lemon juice. We taste for seasoning and add some freshly ground black pepper. We could have made this ahead of time to allow the flavors to meld, but we did not have time. While the dip was being made, the pitas were being grilled.
We serve the dip on the grilled pita. We refrigerate the remaining dip, covered, for a couple of days.
- Grilled Corn
Family fireworks night was only attended by our daughter and Chris again this year. We had planned on taking our son (who was too young last year), but he was a little under the weather last night. We watch the fireworks at Oregon Ridge Park, which we like because the fireworks display is preceded by a nifty little concert put on by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. It is an expensive evening, but one that is well worth it. We play cards. We eat cotton candy. We buy some glow sticks. We watch fireworks. In all, we have a wonderful time.
Our son may have missed out on his first fireworks display this year, but he did see his first movie yesterday, Shrek 2. The kids enjoyed it very much, though our son enjoyed the popcorn a little more than the movie.
Today, we partake in our usual Sunday activities. We had been on vacation in North Carolina last week, so we are low on Farmer's Market supplies. We were sure to buy some corn for tonight's meal, which we grill. The remainder of the day we spend the way a Sunday is meant to be spent—resting and planning for a big dinner.