If you’re firing up the grill this weekend, this simple but colorful dish makes an impressive centerpiece. For a crowd, simply double or triple the recipe. In addition to the tomato and onion salad, make a tasty side dish by first grilling up seasonal vegetables—brush them with olive oil and cook for two minutes per side or until tender. Note: You can enjoy this pork dish any time of year by cooking it in a large cast-iron skillet on your stovetop.
Yields 4 servings
Tenderloin is one of the most elegant cuts of meat, wonderful for romantic dinners and other festive occasions. This recipe features the two-step process called “reverse searing.” It yields meat that is uniformly pink from edge to edge. You can make it an hour ahead of time and serve it at room temperature—it’s perfect as the centerpiece of a buffet.
Yields 6 servings
Verdant and bold-flavored, chimichurri is one of South America’s finest contributions to the world’s sauces. If available, buy “outside” skirt steak, which is considered superior in flavor and tenderness to “inside” skirt steak. Or substitute flank steak or flat iron steak.
Serves 4 — Recipe adapted from lecremedelacrumb.com
While we always prefer wild-caught salmon, Chilean Verlasso salmon (farm-raised) is also very good. Feel free to substitute black bass, red snapper, or lionfish if salmon is not available.
Serves 4 — Recipe from bonappetit.com
This is a wonderful dish for entertaining, as the chicken can be grilled up to an hour ahead. Plate on a platter with a deep well and let the chicken soak up the delicious olive oil and lemon marinade.
Serves 4 — Recipe adapted from epicurious.com
The word “tartine” is just a fancy name for open-faced sandwiches, which can be served anytime. Merquén is a popular Chilean spice mix that can be purchased in a well-stocked spice store or online.
Serves 2— Recipe adapted from smittenkitchen.com
Though it’s not clear why the dish is named as it is, we find these eggs, bathed in a savory tomato sauce, more heavenly than hellish
Serves 4 — Recipe adapted from bonappetit.com
Both salty and sweet, this savory dish riffs on Chicken Marbella by substituting pork tenderloin for chicken. (Please do not confuse small pork tenderloins, usually about a pound each, for pork loin, which is a much larger cut.)
Serves 4 to 6 — Recipe from bonappetit.com
Called chuletón in Spanish, these rib-eyes can be cooked indoors or out. To get more mileage (aka servings) from the steaks, thinly slice them on a diagonal after cooking and shingle on a large platter with the chimichurri sauce.
Serves 2 generously — Recipe courtesy of the Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club
Though we have published recipes for romesco sauce in the past—this iconic sauce is awesome with vegetables, especially the calçots we have enjoyed in early spring in Barcelona—we had never thought to pair it with seafood.
Serves 4 — Recipe adapted from joseandres.com
Spain’s southeastern coast yields huge, sweet shrimp called gambas. Here, these succulent crustaceans are treated simply—sautéed with olive oil, thinly sliced garlic, and lemon juice.
Serves 4 as a tapa or 2 as a main course — Recipe adapted from spainonafork.com
Few foods are as quick to cook and delicious as grilled lamb cubes. Known as arrosticini in the Abruzzo region of southern Italy, it’s one of the most beloved foods, served with olive oil-soaked bread that has also had a quick sear on the grill. In Greece, Turkey, and other countries around the Mediterranean as well as throughout the Middle East, lamb cubes are often called kebabs and slipped from skewer onto pita or another flatbread. No matter what country lays claim to them, adding a dollop of Greek-inspired tzatziki adds creamy zest to this succulent meat.
Yields 4 appetizer servings