Columbus Foodie

The one thing that sustained me through winter was looking forward to the first warm day. To me, spring starts when I can grill out and eat outside comfortably. So even if it’s a single unseasonably warm day at the end of February, just the simple act of cooking and eating outside starts to chisel away at the blues that plague me when the weather gets cold.

One of our favorite quick lunches is grilled pizza. We get pre-made pizza dough from Trader Joe’s, cut each ball into four more manageable chunks, let them rest and warm up a bit, and then stretch them out a bit to throw on the grill. I set up a mobile work station on the still-covered cooktop next to the grill.

For the Caprese pizza, I used olive oil (to be brushed on the crust), fresh mozzarella, sliced Campari tomatoes, and basil. For the Chicken Buffalo Bleu, I used chicken pieces tossed in wing sauce, chopped onions caramelized in butter (to be used as the base), and Cambazola cheese, which is a really creamy, really mild blue type cheese.

It’s super easy to grill pizza – just makes sure that you have fairly high heat, and a well greased or well seasoned cooking surface. Just set the dough directly on the the grill, and when it’s done on the bottom (it will be more solid, and have grill marks), flip it over and put on your toppings, and then lower the grill lid until the toppings are melted to your liking.

On the side, I served it with a mixed baby green salad with balsamic dressing, to which I added a slice or two of bresaola.

For dessert, I grilled some pineapple on the grill, and brushed it as it was grilling with the reserved pineapple juice mixed with brown sugar.

And I haven’t looked back since. I think we’ve grilled out nearly every nice day this past month. Can’t wait until the farmers markets open for the season so I have nice fresh ingredients to work with.

So have you all broken out the grill yet this season? What have you made so far?