Summer Prelude

Wowzas. The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind. Lots of hay on the proverbial fork. Weather has been grand. The sun is early to rise and late to set. Our neighbors are out in full force with children and dogs. I have been successful in twisting Matthew's arm to partake in my beloved power walks with me once a week. Baby steps. Everyone appears to be breathing in the new season with elaborate gusto. In the self improvement department, I embarked upon a cleanse in the form of an elimination diet, if you will. This journey introduced all sorts of novel goodies into our repertoire. For my regimen, clean eating meant out with the bad and in with the good that included an array of fresh fruits, vegetables, organic protein sources and seeds galore. This platform served as an outstanding opportunity to reinvent the wheel and get creative. I am officially off coffee, which does not agree with me and am now a green tea aficionado. The prolific variety available on the web is quite amazing. The past twenty days or so I have made it my objective to use only the best produce inherent to the season. We have introduced ingredients formerly foreign to me and incorporated new recipes that will become summer rotations. Keen to learn what is in season right now? Use trusty Google to generate a list and get thee to the grocers. Growing up in Dallas, I attended an all girls school. Every day at lunch, which everyone ate in the cafeteria, we had a comprehensive bevy of this and that from which to choose. One afternoon in the seventh grade, I curiously watched a fellow peer dust granulated sugar on the half of a ruby grapefruit and tuck in with a spoon. I was an instant convert. So now, when my local market boasts the best of the grapefruit bunch, I buy and incorporate accordingly. The below was shaped to marinate 6 lbs of organic pork tenderloin that was sitting in the fridge awaiting a date with the grill. The flavor medley was intensely delicious. The grapefruit was subtle yet there and lent gorgeous depth to the meat. Fair to say, the next cook out at Reynolds Ranch will almost definitely include meat marinated in this lovely citrus fruit. The added bonus of this one is that you can count the ingredients on less than two hands. Easy peasy dining that delivers in the happy campers department. This particular meal was especially splendiferous when enjoyed on our back porch rubbing elbows with the hummingbirds, fireflies and honey bees! Bonjour for sure.

Grapefruit Marinade

You Need

The juice of one large grapefruit

1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil or grapeseed oil

1 tsp red pepper flakes

2 garlic cloves - chopped

1/4 cup of honey - as outlined in my last post, we are besotted with organic raw honey these days

1 tsp Hungarian paprika

A bunch of fresh thyme

6 lbs pork tenderloin - of course you can also use chicken breasts, thighs, wings

To Prepare

Add everything into a vessel and mix well. Add to a large Ziploc bag along with your meat and the fresh sprigs of thyme. Preferably refrigerate over night. Tell whoever mans the grill to do their thing. Serve with fresh vegetables. Enjoy!