Editors Note: You don’t have to be on a camping trip to enjoy grilling, and I was able to experience that first hand this past weekend.  I forgot how having a delicious grilled meal takes me back to my childhood and leaves me feeling nourished.  Allow yourself to remember a time when you were young and life was simple, have a night to yourself and enjoy a meal on the grill while being grateful for how far you have come! ~Nitika~

Grilling means summer to most of us.  It’s hot and we want to be outside enjoying the sun with good friends and good food.  I’ve included a simple and reliably good marinade that can be used on just about any protein. Grilling by no means requires marinading (something that many people don’t realize!). Most of the time I don’t marinate.  Did you know that no matter what kind of marinade you do, it never penetrates more than about 1/4 inch into the thing you’re marinating? So it makes most sense to get the most of your marinade to use thin cuts (tuna steaks) or small strips (like satay) rather than a big piece (like leg of lamb).

This simple salsa is a great recipe that can be reworked according to seasonal fruit or personal tastes.  Later in the summer I grill peaches, chop them and throw them together to make a salsa.  It’s hard to go wrong!

Soy Ginger Marinade

An easy marinade, particularly good for sturdy fish like tuna, Arctic char, etc. and is also nice for beef, pork and chicken.

Yield: ½ cup

Place fish or other protein in the marinade.  Turn it half-way through marinating time.  Fish should marinate no more than 30 minutes. Beef, pork and chicken can go for 24 hours.

Tip: marinate in Ziploc baggies!

6 Tbsp. soy sauce

2 cloves garlic, smashed

1” piece ginger, grated

1 ½ tsp. sesame oil

1 tsp. Sriracha Sauce (or other hot sauce)

Juice of ½ of a lemon

2 sprigs of fresh thyme (optional)

Combine ingredients and pour over desired protein.  Leftover marinade can be boiled to kill any bacteria and reused or add some stock or water to make a delicious sauce.

Pineapple Salsa

Yield: about 2 cups, about 8 servings

¼ ripe pineapple, skin and core removed, finely diced

1 – 2 tsp. red wine vinegar

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

2 scallions, finely chopped

Juice of half a lime or more to taste

¼ cup chopped cilantro

1 tsp. grated ginger

Sriracha, chipotle or other hot sauce, optional

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.  Season with salt and pepper.

To grill, toss the fish with oil, salt and pepper.  Grill for about 2 – 4 minutes on each side depending on thickness of the fish fillets, desired doneness, and the heat of the grill.  Watch for the color change in the flesh of the fish and touch the fillet and see if it feels firm.  Remove from the grill and top each portion with the salsa.