Cedar Plank Grilling!

It's officially no longer summer weather in Seattle, having gone from 90 to 60 overnight... meaning that clearly, tonight was the best night to expand our grilling skills. :)  Tonight we tackled a recipe from the vegetarian section of the most recent Cooking Light Magazine.  It called for cedar planks, which I was excited to go out and purchase, if only because using them made me feel pretty big-time in the kitchen (or on the grill, as it were).  Turns out you're supposed to soak the planks in water for a good chunk of time (anywhere between 1-24 hours, depending on if you believe Williams & Sonoma's packaging or the recipe), so we soaked them in the bathtub for as long as we could stand before it was time to grill.  The other three are still soaking now, making our bathroom and most of our house smell deliciously like cedar. (Even Kobe's absorbed the smell in his fur!)   Making the stuffing turned out to be easy and it worked out perfectly for me to do that while Derek shelled out the zucchini.  We were both on hand to watch the plank and make sure we didn't burn our house down in the process.  (That area by the window in particular carries some pretty awful luck for us this year, no?).

When they finally made it to our plates, they were absolutely delicious!  The flavoring was perfect and you could really taste the smokiness from the cedar planks.  We were more than full after eating two each.  Definitely a repeatable dish - and one to add to our menu for the next cookout we host!

Plank-Grilled Zucchini with Couscous, Spinach, and Feta Stuffing

Cedar planks lend this dish a pleasant smokiness.  If you don't have planks, cook the zucchini halves directly on the frill.  Use zucchini with some heft; if it's too thin, it may get too soft. 

2 (15x6.5x3/8inch) cedar grilling planks

2 1/4 c organic vegetable broth

1/2 c chopped shallots (about 1 large)

1 (10oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed & drained  (we used farm fresh!)

3/4 c uncooked couscous

1/2 c (2oz) diced feta cheese

1/4 c chopped fresh mint

2 tsp grated lemon rind

3 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

6 medium zucchini (about 2 lbs)  (we used 4 and will easily get 2 meals out of it for each of us)

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1.  Soak planks in water 1 hour; drain

2. Preheat grill to medium-high heat

3.  Place broth in a large skillet over med-high heat; bring to a boil.  Add shallots and spinach; cook 5 minutes.  Stir in couscous.  Remove from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes.  Stir in cheese and next 5 ingredients (through pepper). 

4.  Cut each zucchini in half length-wise; scoop out pulp, leaving a 1/4 in thick shell.  Sprinkle salt evenly over zucchini.  Spoon about 2/3c stuffing into each zucchini half. 

5.  Place planks on grill rack; grill 3 minutes or until lightly charred.  Turn planks over; place zucchini on charred sides of planks.  Cover; grill 12 minutes or until tender.  

Yield: 6 servings (serving size - 2 stuffed zucchini halves).  

*Note: We used all the ingredients as stated except just 4 zucchini and there was just enough stuffing... I would suggest doubling the stuffing ingredients if making more than 4 servings* 

Also, bread update:  It's edible!  A bit dry, but we'll work on that! We'll see if it stands the sandwich test over the camping weekend with M&J.