Ben and I were up circa 3am this morning to get to the KCCI studios, unpack, and get situated in time to kick off my Fresh & Flavorful Memorial Day Menu segments starting at 5:10am!

Usually I cook just one dish when I’m on, but since the long Memorial Day weekend is upon us, we thought it’d be fun to show a whole menu you could prepare for the holiday, in four different segments throughout the morning.

This time I cooked with reporter Molly Nelson. We had so much fun – and I said yeah about 5,000 times! Click here to see the video from our last segment, which starts out as dessert, but ends in an impromptu, on-air party.

Let me break (just typed bread) the menu down for ya’!

Drink

First we whipped up a couple Strawberry Mojitos (at 5:10am, I might add, which gave new meaning to the phrase “it’s 5:00 somewhere!”)

Now, I planted mint in my garden this year just so I could sip these super refreshing cocktails all summer long. Mojitos are one of my all-time faves. I pumped up the normal concoction of simple syrup, mint, lime juice, and rum though, with fresh strawberry slices, and strawberry simple syrup. You will adore these strawberry mojitos and best of all, if you don’t drink alcohol, they are just as refreshing without the rum.

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Side

Next we assembled a super-easy side dish – Grilled Corn Orzo Salad with Chili Lime Vinaigrette. I am so in love with this recipe (as is Steve Karlan, who wolfed down this bowl of it after we finished taping!)

Rice-shaped orzo pasta is tossed with sweet grilled corn, juicy grape tomatoes, creamy avocado, crunchy red onion, and fresh chopped basil, then drizzled with smokey Chili Lime Vinaigrette, which is infused with a kiss of honey. This. Dish. ROCKS.

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Main

I posted the recipe for Grilled Flank Steak with Salsa Verde on the blog last summer, but had to resurrect it for this morning’s grilling segment, because it is just that good.

Flank steak is one of Ben’s and my favorite cuts of meat. It cooks really fast on a really hot grill, and turns to buttah in your mouth when it’s sliced thinly, and against the grain. The parsley-based salsa verde served on the side for dipping, adds pops of bright, zesty flavors to each bite. This is a total grill winner!

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Dessert

I might be the most excited about the dessert we made for the last segment – Boozy Berry Cups! This recipe is inspired by the wine-marinated berries I had in California last week, and is as easy as it is melt-in-your-mouth delicious.

Fresh blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries marinate in the fridge for about 2 hours, in a little bit of sugar and petite sirah wine, before they’re drizzled over good-quality vanilla-bean ice cream. The berries release their juices as they get happy in the wine, creating a sweet, syrupy liquid to drizzle over the ice cream. I CAN’T STAND IT!

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Hope you’ll give some of these fresh and easy recipes a try this weekend!

In the meantime, I am off to BED, in a bit! My 2:45am alarm this morning has left me yawning uncontrollably, and nobody likes a yawner, in my experience. Have a great night!

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Do you have any special plans for Memorial Day?

I think Ben and I are going to head to the Farmers’ Market on Saturday morning, but other than that, we’ve got nothing on the agenda. Kinda nice, I guess!