High Tide

The stage is set for dinner

Sitting on the screened porch and watching the sunset while dinner is cooking on the grill has been the theme of this week at the beach. It is no small luxury to wake up every day and ponder two big questions: when shall we go to the beach, and what should we eat tonight. Taking advantage of the outdoors and a grill, dinner varies between fresh, off-the-boat seafood that smells like the ocean, and an occasional steak. My exotic spices sit in the cupboard but I find myself reaching for very basic, clean, and light flavors - lime, jalapeno, cilantro, chopped garlic, salt and pepper, olive oil.

Perhaps it's because we eat while looking out at the water, but this is some of the best food I have made, and it takes nothing more than combining all ingredients in a bowl along with scallops or shrimp and a dash of white wine for 20 minutes, giving them an occasional gentle toss, then spearing them on skewers and grilling them briefly. Sliced avocado with lime and salt and corn on the cob, grilled wrapped in aluminum foil with olive oil and spices, or boiled and served as a salad, are wonderful side dishes.

Our seafood at home won't be as fresh and we won't be dining to the sound of waves lapping against the shore, but this will work well for broiling, too, and is a surefire way to evoke summer.