Summer Grilling Photo Shoot

Visions of summer grilling are dancing in my head. After a long, snowy Colorado mountain winter, my husband Randy and I packed the car in late-March and headed for our Dallas home, where spring was well underway. I was almost giddy at the sight of trees leafing out and garden beds full of flowers.

It didn’t take any time at all for me to change gears in the kitchen. Longings for hearty soups, casseroles, and roasted meats were quickly replaced by a desire for fresh, crisp salads, quick chicken and tender spring vegetable stir-fry’s, and anything from the grill.

With summer just a heartbeat away, and my June newspaper column due this week, I turned to the grill for inspiration. Keeping my readers in mind, the recipe had to be quick, super-tasty, family-friendly, and fun-to-eat for everyone. From my perspective, it also had to be healthy and heavy on veggies. I may be known for my baking – and that means butter! – but when it comes to everyday meals, I definitely skew on the healthy side. So, I created a recipe for Grilled Beef Skirt Steak Fajitas.

Here’s what I consider when planning a recipe photo shoot. For an outdoor grilling recipe, weather comes first. One week before my Friday due date, I checked the forecast and discovered Monday was the only day without rain and heavy clouds. Natural sunlight adds a wonderful quality to food photos, so I scheduled my photo shoot for Monday.

Next, what would the recipe look like in my photo? Grilled, sliced meat on a platter isn’t necessarily very photogenic, especially without proper lighting, but when presented on a colorful plate, surrounded by grilled peppers and onions, two fajitas bursting with juicy meat and vegetables that look ready to bite into, and garnished with slices of lime and a cluster of bright, green cilantro – now that’s a photo to make mouths water.

Finally, I gathered together everything I needed for the photo shoot so nothing was forgotten: ingredients, cilantro and lime garnishes, a roasting pan filled with cutting boards, knives, tongs, my spice mixture, and foil to cover the meat once it was removed from the grill. I also needed a grill basket for the peppers and onions (my grill baskets are all in Colorado, so I made one by poking holes in the bottom of a deep, aluminum foil pan) a plate for the finished dish, plus an extra just in case, fabric to arrange under the plate, plenty of paper towels to wipe away tiny splatters, and my Nikon camera. At last, I was ready. The sun was shining, the grill was hot, and I already knew what we were having for dinner that night!

-Christy