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Grilling season
Published: 3/23/2009 12:56 PM
Last Modified: 3/23/2009 12:56 PM

It was easy to see what a lot of people were doing this weekend. All you had to do was take a walk around your neighborhood or drive with your windows.

Backyard grills were being fired up all over town.

Now that it's spring, there will be many more weekends like that to come.

When I grill, it's typically meat. But it doesn't have to be. Here's a recipe from "Weber's Charcoal Grilling" for a salad that gets its flavor from a backyard grill.

FENNEL, PEPPER AND MOZZARELLA SALAD
Serves: 6

Dressing:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
3/4 teaspoon anchovy paste
1/4 teaspoon crushed red chile flakes
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Salad:
2 medium fennel bulbs, 8 to 10 ounces each, stalks and fronds removed, with the root end intact
2 roasted red bell peppers, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1/2 pound fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1/2 cup pitted black olives, rinsed, and roughly chopped
3 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh basil

Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

1. In a small bowl whisk the dressing ingredients.

2. Cut each fennel bulb in half lengthwise, through the stem, into 2 wide, flat halves. Lightly brush the halves on all sides with some of the dressing.

3. In a large bowl combine the remaining salad ingredients.

4. Prepare the grill for direct cooking over medium heat. Brush the cooking grates clean.

5. Grill the fennel halves, cut sides down, over direct medium heat, with the lid closed as much as possible, until lightly charred but not burned, 5 to 7 minutes. Turn the fennel over and grill for another 3 minutes, then move them over indirect heat. Cook over indirect medium heat, with the lid closed, until crisp-tender when pierced with the tip of a knife, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove the fennel from the grill and let cool.

6. When cool enough to handle, cut away and discard the hard, triangular core of each half. Cut the remaining fennel into 1/2-inch pieces. Add them to the bowl with the salad ingredients. Add as much of the remaining dressing as you like to moisten the salad. Mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve at room temperature.



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Food Writer Nicole Marshall Middleton joined the Tulsa World in May 1993 after graduating from Oklahoma State University. She has covered crime, city government and general assignment beats during that time - but mostly crime. But when she isn’t at work, Nicole is a devoted food hobbyist. She enjoys meal planning and cooking with her husband, Steve, every day of the week and on holidays it’s a family affair. When the opportunity to become the food writer at the Tulsa World presented itself in the summer of 2011, Nicole jumped at it. She is excited to explore a new side of Tulsa and make the transition from crime to cuisine. .

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