Thursday, July 23, 2015

{Quick Grilled Appetizer with Target}



This post is sponsored by Target.

Between weddings, birthday parties and general summer get-togethers (and even a few Palm Springs trips) my summer weekends are almost booked solid.  And that means I don’t have a ton of time to be prancing around my kitchen making 3 hour long dishes for visiting guests or to bring to a BBQ so I am always on the lookout for easy yet impressive recipes.   While out for drinks with a friend a few weeks back, we had this amazing appetizer of char-grilled watermelon and burrata topped with a simple yet spicy jalapeño vinaigrette on a bed of arugula.  The flavors were light and fresh while still being interesting beyond the normal (aka boring) summer salad, plus there was a hefty amount of cheese included so that’s not hurting anybody!

On a Target run last week, I decided to grab all the necessary ingredients to try to copycat the dish for some visiting friends.  I switched out the burrata for fresh mozzarella balls.  I had fully intended to put the dish on a bed of arugula, but completely forgot to add it in the rush of getting the house, myself and the dish ready before guests arrived.  For the jalapeño vinaigrette, I finely chopped half a jalapeño and let it “steep” in extra virgin olive oil for about 20 minutes then drained the oil to drizzle on top of the finished dish along with some smoked Maldon sea salt.

The best part about this dish is by far the grilled watermelon so make sure to save this part for right before your guests arrive.  The crisp fresh flavor of the watermelon is intact, but heightened by the slight warmth and smoke flavor from the grill.  If you don’t want to fire up the grill just for a simple dish you, can you use a cast iron griddle pan like this to achieve the same effect.







Do you have an easy go-to summer dish that can be picked up and assembled at a moment’s notice? 




What’s on your #TargetRun?