(ARA) - Grilling isn’t just for summer celebrations anymore. No matter what your culinary preferences — from traditional mega-cookouts at the park to health-conscious quick meals — grilling has something delicious to offer for everyone.

More than 75 percent of Americans say they own at least one grill, with an increasing number of households boasting two, according to Joanne Hayes, a nationally recognized magazine food editor, TV recipe developer and food historian. Enthusiasm for the traditional warm-weather cookout has carried over into booming popularity for indoor built-in and portable-countertop grilling units, as well as simple in-oven grilling and rotisserie techniques. Grilling has become a popular option even for those who cook one-person meals or have living arrangements that don’t lend themselves to outdoor grilling.

Grilled Vegetables

In response to this trend, new varieties of seasonings, rubs and marinades have arrived on store shelves, adding convenience, versatility, no-mess food preparation and robust flavors to grilled dishes. Many seasonings can be rubbed on prior to cooking or shaken on over the grill — adding succulent flavor in mere minutes, or even seconds, of preparation time.

For cooks who like the deep, locked-in flavor of marinades, Grilling Seasons marinade mixes from Simply Organic require just 30 minutes of “flavor-absorption” time while the rest of the meal preparation is under way. Organic flavor selections include Lemon Pepper, Zesty Herb, Steak, Mesquite Barbeque, and Garlic Herb.

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Would you like to master one technique that would allow you to produce an incredible variety of lovely French cakes right in your own kitchen? The good news for those of you who love elegant cake,s but are perhaps not the most talented of cooks, is that making French choux pastry is dead easy. And it truly is the basis for so many desserts - you could even invent your own.

What is choux pastry anyway? If you’ve ever had a cream puff, you have had choux pastry. It is a very simple concoction made from water, butter, flour, and eggs. The pastry dough itself is sticky and looks hopeless, but when you put it the oven it puffs up spectacularly.

Cream puffs. Photo credit: rusvaplauke

The secret to the puffiness of the cream puff is in the mixing. All you need is a strong arm. Or I guess you could use your mixer if you’ve already been to the gym today. And be sure to follow your choux pastry recipe to the letter, carefully measuring all ingredients, adding them in the right order, and following cooking instructions.

I’m making this sound harder than it is! Don’t be intimidated. Like I said, it’s easy! Once you have choux pastry down, you can make all the cream puffs you could ever want in a matter of minutes.

But don’t stop there. You could try any one of these elegant French cakes now that you know how to make a choux pastry. (As you go down the list, the cakes get more complicated.)

Chouquettes: These are small puffs without the cream, topped with big grains of sugar for a little sweetness. French kids love these for snacks, and they’d make a quick-to-fix treat anytime. I even let my kids have them for breakfast.

Cream Puffs: OK these you know. Fill your cream puffs with custard, chocolate pudding, whipped cream, or whatever else you might want. You can sprinkle them with powdered sugar or drizzle them with chocolate sauce or caramel. Get imaginative, there are no rules.

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(NC)—Smoothies and summer go hand in hand and are a refreshing relief from the long, hot days that mark the season. Making a smoothie is simple, and they are a great way to improve your diet by ensuring you get your daily intake of fruit.

To get started, the first thing you need is a blender. With so many models to choose from an important feature to look for is the amount of watts a blender has. The more watts, the stronger the motor and easier it is to blend thicker substances or crush ice, which is great for smoothies.

A common complaint among blender users is that thicker blends tend to stick to the sides of the jar. “When we designed the Cyclone Blender we focused on this issue,” said Barry Squire, Product Manager at Black & Decker Home Products. “The jar’s unique shape draws food into the blades, creating a vortex that prevents thicker beverages from sticking to the sides, saving you time and effort.”

Now that you have a blender … get fruit and lots of it! The reason smoothies are so popular isn’t just because of their great taste, they are also very healthy (high in fibre and vitamins). Here are a few recipes that will get you started. Feel free to experiment with fruit pairings and discover your own blender-sensations.

The Breakfast Smoothie:

Trying to eat a good breakfast and get out the door in the morning is tough, so finding a delicious smoothie combination can help. Start with a healthy cereal, perhaps low-fat granola or muesli, mix in yogurt, bananas, blueberries or whatever fruit you like, add some juice, blend and start the day with energy.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup cereal (low-fat granola, muesli, etc.)
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt (low-fat)
1 cup ice
1 banana
2 cups juice (orange, apple or whatever you like)

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(NC)—Deep frying. The words alone send shivers down the spine of anyone trying to live a healthy lifestyle. But an oven just doesn’t compete with the golden, crisp and tasty fries from a fryer. The same holds true for chicken, fish, and a variety of fritters and breads where the fryer rules supreme. But don’t sacrifice taste that quickly; there are ways to have both good taste and a healthy meal all in one.

Battering and frying unquestionably adds fat and calories, but most of this happens through absorption as food is sitting in the oil. Making sure the oil is at the optimum temperature before adding your food helps reduce absorption. A temperature indicator is a great feature that ensures the fryer is ready. If your deep fryer doesn’t have a temperature indicator, you can test its readiness by dropping a cube of crustless white bread in the oil. It should be golden brown in about 60 seconds.

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