Summertime, and the Living' is Easy!

Ahhh, Summer!  I love the long days, how beautiful all the gardens look, wearing dresses and flip flops and, of course, the simplicity of the grill.  The heat of the season means lots of salads, cold food and never using a kitchen stove.  It also keeps us all outside, at the beach or just playing, much later in the day, which leaves me scrambling to figure out what to make for dinner.  As always, I want to use ingredients of the season, even better if I can find them locally and  two of my favorite foods for the summer are Peaches (obviously) and Sword Fish.  I only eat Sword Fish in the summer when I can get it from a local fish market, that is only open this time of year.  This is an easy, grill friendly recipe which using both!  Serve on a bed of Herbed Quinoa with a simple Green Salad and you have a great Summer Dinner!

Grilled Lime-Cumin Sword Fish Skewers w/ Grilled Peach Salsa

1 1/2-2 pounds fresh Sword Fish

1 Tablespoon Lime Zest

1 teaspoon Ground Cumin

1 clove Garlic, minced

3 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil1 teaspoon Sea Salt

1/2 teaspoon ground Black Pepper

4-8 skewers, soaked in water about 1/2 hour

Cube the fish into 2 inch pieces.  Whisk to combine the remaining ingredients in a non reactive bowl and add the fish to the marinade.  Set aside 20-30 minutes while making the salsa.

Salsa:

2 ripe Peaches

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt

1/4 teaspoon ground Pepper

1 teaspoon Ginger, minced

1 clove Garlic, minced

1 teaspoon Lemon Zest

1/2 teaspoon ground Cumin

1/8-1/4 teaspoon Cayenne (optional)

1 Lime, juiced

1 Lemon, juiced

1 Tablespoon Cilantro, minced

1 Tablespoon Basil, minced

1 teaspoon honey

Grill Peaches:

Heat grill to high.  Halve the peaches (either peeled or unpeeled), brush each side with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Grill about 2 minutes per side, or until peaches are marked.  Set aside to cool. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a serving dish or other non reactive bowl.  When the Peaches are cool enough to handle, chop into 1/4-1/2 inch dice and add to the bowl.  Stir and taste for seasoning.

Skewer and Grill Fish:

Put the Sword Fish onto the skewers, as many pieces per skewer as you want.  Place the skewers onto the hot grill, keeping the wooden ends away from the flame if you can.  Grill each side of the fish about 2-3 minutes, or until well marked.  Total cooking time is 8-12 minutes, turning 3 times to get all sides.  If fish seems to need a little more time, move to a cooler part of the grill, or turn grill off, and close the lid for several minutes to finish the cooking. Serve with the Peach Salsa.