The Great Grill Fire of 2014...a PSA and a Recipe Included!

"This grill is on Fi-yah!"

Kids, don't try this at home.

Truer words had never been sung during what I shall now call "The Great Grill Fire of 2014." It was just a regular Sunday family dinner in the neighborhood and with the warm weather, we elected to grill. While the details that lead up to this event are a bit hazy, as you can tell from the photo, things got hot quickly. With black smoke.

Perhaps the grill wasn't completely cleaned before using or maybe it was something else. But two fire extinguishers and a box of baking soda later, the fire finally went out.

Well, at least the roof wasn't on fire. Cue music.

So this is your PSA for Memorial Day weekend. Clean your grill and know where your fire extinguishers are. The more you know. And stuff.

And here's the recipe that I had to modify due to the grill situation. As you can tell, the photo is a bit smoky, as pretty much everything looked after the Great Grill Fire of 2014.

Grilled Zucchini with Walnuts and Gorgonzola Cheese (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 2 medium zucchini, sliced length-wise
• Small red onion
• 1/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts
• 2 tsp. olive oil + little extra for basting the vegetables
• 1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 3 TB crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

Directions:

Grill 1/2-inch thick slices of red onion, lightly covered with olive oil, 5 minutes on each side until tender. Remove from grill and then coarsely chop.

Grill zucchini 2 minutes on each side, lightly covered with olive oil.

Combine onion, walnuts, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix together. Spoon walnut mixture evenly over zucchini. Then sprinkle with cheese and serve.