It is that time of year again. Time chop up some fresh veggies and fire up the grill. Today I am going to share with you some of my favorite, easy spring grilling recipes I have come up with through the years.

Grilled Chicken and Watermelon Salad:

(Serves 4)

4 chicken breasts

1 bottle Italian dressing

1 head of lettuce washed and chopped

1-2 cups of  watermelon cubed

⅛ cup of sunflower seeds

¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Place chicken in a zip lock bag and add ¾ bottle of Italian dressing. Allow to marinate for 2 hours. You can also prepare this in the morning and leave it in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook dinner that evening.

Preheat grill to 375 degrees, keeping in mind, the heat will continue to rise while you are cooking. Place chicken on the grill and cook until middle temperature reaches 170 degrees, turning occasionally to ensure grill marks are on both sides of the chicken.

While the chicken is cooking, toss the lettuce, watermelon, sunflower seeds, cheese, and remaining lettuce in a large bowl. Mix well.

You can serve the chicken directly on top of the salad or on the side, whichever you prefer.

Kababs:

(serves 6)

10 metal skewers (wooden cannot go on the grill)

1 can of cubed pineapple drained thoroughly

2 chicken breasts cubed

2 steaks cubed

1 onion (whichever color you prefer) sliced into large strips

1 bell pepper (whichever color you prefer) sliced into large strips

2 cups of cooked rice (whatever rice you prefer)

Preheat grill to 400 degrees. Once all the ingredients for the skewers are sliced or cubed, place them on the skewers alternating ingredients. Place skewers on the grill for approximately 15 minutes, ensuring meat is cooked through and grill marks are on all sides of the skewered ingredients.

While skewers are cooking, cook the rice of your choice. Serve skewered ingredients over a small bed of rice.

Hamburgers and Bacon Corn Salad:

(serves 4)

4 Hamburger buns

1 pound ground hamburger

1 large egg

½ cup breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon minced onion

1 teaspoon garlic powder

4 pieces of sliced cheese (whatever cheese you prefer)

2 slices of bacon (turkey bacon or veggie bacon are good substitutes)

1 bag of frozen corn (defrosted)

1 shallot diced thin

½ a bell pepper (whichever color you prefer)

½ cup mayonnaise

Salt and Pepper

Preheat grill to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, mix hamburger, egg, breadcrumbs, worcestershire sauce, minced onion, and garlic powder. Once ingredients are thoroughly mixed, shape into four large patties. Place on grill and cook, flipping occasionally, until center reaches at least 160 degrees for a medium well hamburger.

While hamburgers are cooking, fry bacon in a skillet over medium heat until crisp. Allow to cool and chop into small pieces. In a medium bowl mix bacon, corn, shallot, bell pepper, mayonnaise, salt and pepper to taste.

If you are feeling fancy, place your buns on the top shelf of the grill for approximately 2 minutes to get some nice grill marks on the buns. Serve hamburgers on buns with cheese and a side of corn salad.

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Recipe by Candace Inge