grilled leeks

i mentioned yesterday that we put grilled leeks in our st. patrick's day shepard's pie. well, i think they deserve the spotlight for a moment. we never really cooked with leeks until very recently, but they looked too good at the farmer's market to pass up so we had them as a side dish. they were so simple to prepare it almost seems too easy for the wonderful result we got. the fussiest part of this recipe is just making sure that you clean your leeks really really well. and leeks can hide a lot of dirt inside so you have to take some time to make sure you get it all out but after that it's easy peasy. we grilled these in the grill pan and then drizzled them with a little balsamic vinaigrette. there's really not much of a recipe to this but here's a little guideline.

grilled leeks
ingredients:
two large leeks
olive oil
salt (i used rosemary salt but it's not really necessary)

trim the dark green tops off the leeks along with the hairy bits at the bottom (but leave the rooty base so they won't come apart when you halve them). cut each leek in half and clean it by carefully pulling the layers apart and rinsing out all the dirt. fill up a bowl with water and swish them around to loosen dirt and wash again.

brush your grill pan with olive oil and heat over medium-high heat. brush a little oil on the leeks and sprinkle with a little salt (if using) and place them in the pan. cook until they begin to soften and grill lines appear. flip and cook a few minutes on the other side until tender.

drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette and enjoy! erin posted a simple vinaigrette recipe for her roasted pear salad:
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dijon mustard
salt and pepper

whisk all ingredients together.

-d