Happy Labor Day everyone! A time to enjoy the last barbeque of the summer with family and friends. NOFA-NY’s Locavore Challenge for today is “grill local meats and veggies”. Seems simple enough? Not so much in Brooklyn. Living in an apartment in Brooklyn, you have to make sacrifices. A door to door commute, but no backyard. Free heat, but no central AC. World class restaurants steps from your apartment, but lack of kitchen basics like a grill, But you make due. A few years ago, my mother in law got me a grill pan for Christmas. I might have asked for one, I really don’t remember, but now I can’t imagine living without one. If you live in a city and don’t have one, GO GET ONE NOW! I swear it will change your culinary life.

No longer do I need to envy those with a big shiny grill in their backyard or deck. Meet my grillpan!

Okay, maybe that’s not a photo of my exact grillpan, but you get the idea. I figured you would envy it more if it was nice and shiny. But I swear, that’s what mine used to look like a few years back. Since then, it’s dulled a bit but still works fantastically! I can make burgers, grilled veggies, steaks, corn–pretty much anything you can make on a normal gas grill and more! I mean, seriously, would you make a grilled cheese on your outdoor grill? Probably not. But I can.

Brooklyn Locavore’s Reasons for Owning a Grillpan

• You’ll never worry about having to run out and fill a propane tank because your grill ran out of gas
• Winter friendly–have your grilled meats and veggies without getting frostbite
• SO MUCH EASIER TO CLEAN
• No set up or prep; turn your stove on high for 20-30 seconds to heat and you’re good to go
• No fear of grease fires
• Compact and portable; I don’t think you’d offer to bring your outdoor stove to a friend’s house
• No fancy grill tools needed! A spatula and maybe a fork gets me pretty far
• Cheaper–about $50 (for the Calphalon one) vs hundreds of dollars
• Did I mention the easy to clean?

Now, if my very well thought out list that took hours to put together hasn’t won you over yet, let’s just take a gander at some of the tasty dishes that have graced this blog, courtesy of my grillpan.

Grilled Skirt Steak — Spice(less) Cooking

Mediterranean Turkey Burgers

Grilled Flank Steak – Perfect Local Summer Meal

Grilled Veggies — Simple Sandwich Idea

4th of July Burgers – Brooklyn Barbecue

Related articles

• New York Locavore Challenge – Day 1 (brooklynlocavore.wordpress.com)
• NY Locavore Challenge – Have You Signed Up Yet? (brooklynlocavore.wordpress.com)