It’s strawberry season here in New Jersey, and I plan to take full advantage of it. It's a short season and only lasts from about mid-May to mid-June, but the strawberries couldn't be any sweeter and at the height of their prime. I have an extra special recipe for you! It’s three ingredients, one’s a strawberry, and it involves a grill. Have you ever had a hot strawberry? Well, it's about time that you do. That’s what we made tonight, grilled strawberries. We marinated them in balsamic vinegar and sugar while the grill was preheating. It's a 1:1 ratio, but you can add more sugar if you like them sweeter. Since they're left whole they can be grilled individually or put on skewers. Skewers are nice, especially if you're entertaining guests. They present nicely that way. Either way, your guests are going to be impressed. The size of your berries will vary the cooking time, but you can tell when they're done when they're warmed all the way through, have a light glaze, and good grilled marks. You can always turn the heat up a bit and close the cover of your grill for a couple of minutes too. We plated them with a simple fresh mint garnish straight out of the garden. Other ways of enjoying them are served in a salad or over grilled chicken and adding a little more balsamic glaze. You can even put them in an ice cream sundae. There are so many things you can do with them. And if you find out you like grilled strawberries I'd encourage you to play with your marinades. A couple of other options are butter, honey, and lemon zest or even espresso balsamic and chocolate syrup. This is such a simple side dish, topping, snack, or dessert and perfect during strawberry season!

Recipe for Grilled Strawberries:

Ingredients:

• 12 whole strawberries, washed, dried and stems removed

• 2 tbsp sugar

• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Directions:

1. Lightly coat your grill grates with oil so the strawberries don’t stick. Preheat grill to medium high heat.

2. Put the strawberries, sugar and balsamic vinegar in a ziplock bag. Gently shake or rub them to get them coated without hurting the berries. Marinate them for 5-7 minutes.

3. Place the strawberries on the grill and cook uncovered until a glaze forms and they have grill marks. Be sure to turn them throughout to get grill marks on all sides.

4. Plate and serve immediately.