Whole Trout with Sugar Snap Pea Salad

Every summer my family heads to our cottage in Northern Michigan, where eight adults, a growing number of children and two dogs pray for sunshine and a week of nice weather (it will happen one day!).  Cooking for a crowd can be a challenge under the best of circumstances, add to that planning a weeks’ worth of meals that everyone will enjoy and having to cook in a kitchen that lacks many home conveniences (such as sharp knives) and sufficed to say- it’s a challenge!  I think we rose to the occasion this year.

Here are my tricks for survival, should you decide to try cooking on vacations yourself:

1. Bring your own knife!  When you are renting a cottage and have no idea the caliber of equipment you will have on hand, a sharp knife will save you a lot of frustration.  Traveling by plane?  You could check a knife sharpening kit.
2. Plan, plan, plan– I always make a menu for the entirety of my stay and make a grocery list based on that.  I try to allocate times in the schedule to eat up leftovers, as you don’t want to waste a lot of food and freezing for later is not really an option.  The more often you make menus for your family, the better you will get at estimating the correct amount of food.  And you are much better off doing a couple smaller trips to the store, which will result in fresher food on hand.
3. Keep the meals simple.  You probably will not have a mixer, food processor, or blender, let alone something more specialized like a pasta maker.  So make things easy on yourself.  Plan dishes that don’t require significant prep work and you will find yourself with more time in the sun (presuming that it makes an appearance).
4. Cook light fresh meals when possible.  Travelling can be hard on digestion.  Fortunately, when you are travelling in the summer, vegetables are plentiful and fresh.  Cooking in season and local produce will result in dishes that are both delicious, easier to make and easy on our systems.

This meal checked off all the boxes.  We picked up a whole trout from a market vendor, who had already removed the head and the cavity for us.  Very little chopping and prep work was needed to get the fish on the table.  Grilling the fish outside kept the house cool.  Both the trout and the salad were light, fresh and everything you could want from a summer meal.

Grilled Whole Trout

1 whole trout, cleaned and gutted
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lemon, thinly sliced (1/8 inch)
1-2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1-2 shallots, thinly sliced
fresh dill
fresh parsley
salt and pepper, to taste

Make diagonal slashes on both sides of the fish and rub the exterior with olive oil. Season both sides and the inside of the cavity liberally with salt and pepper. Stuff the inside of the cavity with the lemon, garlic and shallot slices, and large chunks of the herbs.

Place the fish on the grill for approximately 5-7 minutes per side, until golden and slightly charred in some places. Remove from the heat and let the fish rest until it is cool enough to handle. Remove the aromatics from the cavity and pull the backbone and ribcage out of the fish. This is a little tricky, but you will get the hang of it. Grab a hold of the backbone near the tail section and pull it up and away from the flesh. Be sure to pull gradually so you don’t remove the flesh with the bones. Serve with the aromatics.

Sugar Snap Pea Salad
Giada De Laurentiis

1 lb sugar snap peas, trimmed
2 small cucumbers, unpeeled, thinly sliced
1 cup (1/2 pint) cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill

Dressing:
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice from 1/2 a large lemon
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp lemon zest
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Salad: Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil over high heat.  Add the snap peas and cook until vibrant green, about 1 to 2 minutes.  Drain and transfer to a bowl of iced water to cool, about 2 minutes.  Drain and add to a salad bowl.  Stir in the cucumbers, tomatoes and dill.

For the dressing: In a small bowl., whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil and lemon zest until smooth.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Pour the dressing over the salad and toss until coated.