Summertime Treat Grilled Fruit

 There are so many summertime harvests right now from late season cherries to peaches. what is great about the fruit of the season is that they can be grilled. Any can be used as dessert or even in side dishes.

Surprisingly any fruit can be roasted and grilled even the littlest ones. Grilled or roasted cherries are easy to make and can go with everything from pork chops to chocolate ice cream.All they need to be is pitted to make sure no one breaks a tooth and then tossed in a mix of olive oil, sea salt and ground pepper.YOu can roast these on a grate on your grill or in your oven. MInced parsley could be added to this for a savory quality which would make them perfect to add to a salad. These could also be added to a dressing too for a lively zing to a grilled chicken or steak salad. Going to the bigger fruit, peaches lend themselves to coals or oven. Again they need to be pitted and halved before cooking. Brush them with melted butter or olive oil and then cook for four to six minutes on both sides. Again these are versatile. Add some brown sugar to the melted butter for added sweetness and then serve the peaches topped with vanilla ice cream or vanilla yogurt. Grilled peaches are also perfect as a side to grilled chicken and combined they make for a wonderful salad with the addition of feta cheese and arugula. Serve with a balsamic dressing.

Most grillers usually stick to those backyard dessert classics - watermelon and pineapple. Although water melon tastes good when it's chilled ,it's equally as delicious grilled.Keep in mind to cut it into thick triangular wedges. Arrange the pieces on thee grill and cook for about two to three minutes or until grill marks appear. Some home chefs put a honey sauce on them but you can also just eat them plain as well. A watermelon salad is a nice side to burgers and hot dogs. Start with a dressing of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. You could use red wine dressing if the balsamic is too strong.Add arugula and a nice crumble cheese like chevre or goat cheese.Mix and serve. You could add grapes or walnuts too if you want more flavor. Grilled pineapple is always a treat at the end of a cookout,It's just brushing the rings or slices with a mix of melted butter and honey or brown sugar. Add a little sea salt to bring out the fruity flavor and grill for two to three minutes on each side. You could add it to  a salad but it does taste good with with just a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of mango ice.

We're in the full swing of harvest season. It's time to use the harvest in a number of versatile ways. Try grilling the local fruit for tasty sides and desserts.