September 20: Grilled Swordfish Salad

2 lemons
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds swordfish steaks, trimmed of dark connective tissue and skin, cut into 2- to 3-ounce chunks
   Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 small to medium, firm zucchini, cut into bite-size chunks
2 roasted red peppers (homemade or jarred), drained and chopped
3 vine-ripe tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
2 to 3 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, chopped
2 small garlic cloves, minced
   Crusty bread, to pass at the table

Preheat a grill pan or outdoor grill to high heat.

Zest and juice 1 of the lemons into a shallow dish, then add about 3 tablespoons of the EVOO to the juice. Set the swordfish chunks into the lemon and oil and season with salt and pepper. Turn the fish to coat and let marinate for 10 minutes.

In a salad bowl, combine the zucchini, red peppers, onions, tomatoes, parsley, and mint. Add salt to the chopped garlic and mash it to a paste with the flat of your knife. Add the mashed garlic to the salad bowl. Add the juice of the remaining lemon to the salad with about 3 tablespoons of the EVOO. Toss the salad to coat evenly and distribute the garlic. Season the salad with salt and pepper.

Grill the swordfish for 3 minutes on each side, until firm and cooked through.

Place the salad on dinner plates and top with grilled swordfish. Serve with the crusty bread.

4 SERVINGS

Rachael Ray says: "This one is especially good at summer's end." That's appropriate, since there are only 2 days of summer left. I'm excited about fall. Here in the North, fall is already upon us. Anyway, this dinner was better than I expected it to be. I liked the flavor of the salad... even though it was only dressed with lemon and olive oil, I think the tomatoes and garlic really helped a lot. It was heavy on the zucchini, but that's probably because mine were huge. I didn't use real swordfish, because it's not good when you're pregnant (I should be delivering in 1 month). And I cooked the fish in a pan instead of grilling it. But it had a really nice flavor (I used Pollack). The only thing I might do differently next time is to use only 1 pound of fish instead of 2 pounds. There is a lot of fish left over and not much salad.