GRILLING SEASON IS HERE. We love to grill: meat, fish, veggies, you name it. Through September we grill. A lot. With charcoal.

SOURCE: iSTOCKPHOTO.COM

I, of course, worry about the carbon footprint of it all. On the surface, it seems pretty straightforward: Charcoal grills emit two to three times as much carbon as gas grills. OK. Go buy a gas grill. Case closed.

Or not.

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory reports that charcoal is a renewable resource, while natural gas is not. Charcoal, which is made from wood, is part of a natural carbon cycle, thus having a net-zero carbon footprint.

Most charcoal is made of waste wood or, if new wood is used, it comes from FSC-certified sources. In fact, Kingsford — the gold standard of charcoal — had its humble beginnings as a way for Henry Ford to use his sawdust and waste wood almost 100 years ago.

But wait.

There are two basic types of charcoal, briquettes and lump. Lump charcoal is just that — wood that is charred until it becomes coal-like lumps. Briquettes, on the other hand, contain ground up lump charcoal combined with other ingredients. Those additives put particulate matter into the air and leave behind a residue; lump charcoal burns clean and leaves almost no perceptible ash.

This residue and particulate matter is the heart of the controversy over the environmental impact of charcoal grilling.

In response, small producers, Original Charcoal (sold under private label by Trader Joe’s) and, yes, even Kingsford now sell a range of “100% natural” briquette products.

Bottom line?

Stay away from lighter fluid and instant-light briquettes, which do put VOCs into the atmosphere. Beyond that? Since barbecue emissions represent 0.0003 of the total U.S. annual carbon footprint, go ahead and grill however you like. Just maybe think about taking the bus to your next picnic.

IF YOU ASK ME, MOST ICE-CREAM SANDWICHES aren’t very exciting. They’re usually two tasteless chocolate cookies filled with bland vanilla ice cream. Summer calls for much more rewarding treats. Here’s one to make: fab ginger cookies filled with soft peach ice cream.

Ginger-Cookie Ice-Cream Sandwiches
Makes about 12 sandwiches

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
1 large egg
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
Demerara or turbinado sugar
1 pint peach ice cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl stir together the butter, brown sugar and molasses. Stir in the egg.
2. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Stir into the butter mixture.
3. Place the Demerara or turbinado sugar in a bowl. Scoop out a heaping tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball with your hands. Coat the ball with the Demerara sugar by rolling it in the sugar and place it on a parchment or Teflon-pad-lined cookie sheet. Repeat this process, spacing the balls approximately one inch apart on the sheet.
4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until the bottoms of the cookies are lightly browned. Transfer them to cooling racks and let cool completely. Sandwich peach ice cream between cookies and serve.

LAST YEAR’S GARDEN WAS PROLIFIC, but the corn came on while we were away, the excess acorn squash ended up in a compost pile and we toyed with renaming our place Zucchini Acres.

So we are planting strategically this year, popping in only the ingredients we need for our favorite summer dish: Gado Gado.

Described as an “Indonesia extravaganza,” our Gado Gado includes yellow rice (the glow comes from turmeric) on a bed of spinach, covered with vegetables, tofu and hard-boiled eggs from our own chickens. It’s all topped by a spicy peanut sauce.

We can’t grow the rice or the peanuts in our northern climes, but we can grow spinach, cabbage, green beans, carrots and onions (Gado Gado with Walla Walla onions has a nice ring).

No broccoli or celery, both suggested ingredients in our dog-eared 1977 Moosewood Cookbook original recipe, but we will grow our own favorite additions, potatoes and cucumbers. Not a zucchini in the bunch!

You can find other Gado Gado recipes online or get the lighter, improved version with The New Moosewood Cookbook. For a sampling of other vegetarian recipes, visit the Moosewood Restaurant or Molly Katzen’s archives.

Peanut Sauce
From “The New Moosewood Cookbook”
Makes 2 cups
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 heaping tablespoon grated ginger
1 heaping tablespoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 cups hot water
4 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoon soy sauce
Crushed red pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients, spoon over Gado Gado (or anything else), and enjoy.

I BOUGHT ONE OF THOSE GREAT limonatta bottles (with the attached plastic cork and metal cage/hinge) at Trader Joe’s a while back — so classic Euro-looking and fun. Once the bubbly beverage was gone, I washed the bottle and set it aside.

Fast-forward to some neighbor kids swinging by to play in the yard on a hot afternoon. No lemonade or Izze to be had in the house — nothing “fun”.  So, quick, I pop some chilled water into that cute bottle (pouring it through a frosting tip as I can’t find a funnel), pop the stopper back on top, put out some tiny juice-jar-like glasses (the ones us adults use for wine so our kids’ footballs or the Labrador’s tail doesn’t knock ‘em over) and set them on a tray with paper cocktail napkins and pretty slices of apples.

Me?  Walk outside with it, all nonchalant-like, and pop it on the porch.

The kids? Four boys and girls, ages 3 to 10, in an hour (bladders busting, no doubt) drink four bottles of that plain chilled water. They play, come back, sit in the shade of our dogwood tree, and pour more for themselves and one another. The ritual and style clearly make it special and they’re all giddy with excitement.

And me? I just pretend not to notice, as I keep popping back into the kitchen to fill up that same recycled bottle with plain old chilled water from our Britta pitcher. Shhhh.

I DON’T REMEMBER WHEN I STARTED MAKING CANTALOUPE GELATO. I must have gone on a melon-buying spree one summer and then realized we couldn’t eat them all fast enough. So I made melon gelato. Similar to sorbet but more intensely flavored, this is one of my favorite ends to a summer meal.

Gelato di Melone
Serves 4

1 cup superfine granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cantaloupe (about 3 pounds)
2 tablespoons lime juice
Large pinch salt

In a small heavy saucepan, heat sugar and water to make a syrup, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Cool. Cut rind from melon and discard seeds. Cut melon into chunks and in a food processor purée enough to measure 2 cups. Transfer purée to a bowl and stir in syrup, lime juice and salt. Chill melon mixture until cold and up to 1 day.

Freeze in an ice-cream maker. Serve gelato immediately or transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden no more than 3 hours.

PESTO AND PASTA go together like two Ps in a pod, as we all know. But if your garden yields a banner crop of basil this summer, consider these alternate uses for pesto that spread the goodness around:

SOURCE: iSTOCKPHOTO.COM

• Fish topping: Simply brush a light coating of pesto on fish fillets or steaks, and broil. Especially good on halibut.
• Sandwich spread: Mix some pesto into mayo or yogurt to add zest to sandwiches, for example with leftover chicken.
• Pizza topping: Replace the tomato sauce with pesto, or get the best of both worlds by first lightly coating the rolled-out dough with pesto, then ladling on the tomato sauce and the rest of the toppings.
• Vegetable topper: Brush pesto on sliced veggies before grilling. Or enliven corn on the cob by brushing on pesto instead of butter.
• Salad dressing: Add olive oil, vinegar and pepper to turn pesto into a lively vinaigrette for many greens.

And when you’re ready to hit the pasta again, indulge in the Ligurian pesto extravaganza made with the trofiette, whose twists and pinched ends carry the perfect amount of pesto into each bite.

I DON’T THINK I HAD EVER PAID MUCH ATTENTION TO RADISHES before I went to cooking school. Of course I’d eaten them, the ones that were thinly sliced and then forgotten on the bottom of the salad bowl. But in a cooking lesson on crudités, we slathered crusty slices of bread with good butter and topped it with paper thin radish slices. And just before we ate them, we sprinkled the radishes with coarse sea salt. The combination was truly astounding, the combination of textures and flavors transforming. I never looked at a radish the same way again.

SOURCE: iSTOCKPHOTO.COM

Radish Crostini
Makes 8 slices (serves 4)

2 (or more) tablespoons European-style butter
8 thin slices crusty French or Italian bread
2 radishes, thinly sliced
Coarse sea salt

Spread the butter on the bread slices, dividing evenly. Cover with the radishes (this can be done up to an hour ahead, just cover with a towel). Just before serving, sprinkle liberally with salt and serve.

SOURCE: iSTOCKPHOTO.COM

FARMERS MARKETS IN THE SPRING are chock full of wonderful things. On my last visit, I bought spring greens for salad (chickweed, mizuna and arugula) and a few bunches of spring onions.

Looking very similar to scallions, spring onions have the very beginnings of onion bulbs on the ends of their long green stems.  They’re milder than fully developed onions but a bit zippier than scallions. Anyway, I took them home, rinsed and trimmed them and threw them on the grill with a steak. Yum.

Grilled Spring Onions
Serves 4

2 bunches spring onions, tops and roots trimmed, rinsed
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt
Crumbled feta or blue cheese (optional)

Preheat a grill to high heat. Toss the onions with the olive oil and salt and grill until tender, turning a few times, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese if desired and serve.

PERHAPS IT’S PECULIAR TO MY WORLD, but it seems that lots of teenagers are becoming vegan. In our house, it’s my 14-year old. And since I do most of the cooking around here, when I learned of her decision, I tried not to have a cow about it (sorry, I couldn’t resist that). Anyway, one meatless evening, I devised this particular salad, one that both carnivores and vegans can appreciate.

Bulgur with Mushrooms,

Zucchini and Dill
Serves 4

1 cup medium bulgur
Salt
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
1/4 pound sliced cremini mushrooms
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped dill
Pinch cinnamon
Pinch cayenne
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1. Place the bulgur in a bowl with salt and pour 2 cups boiling water over. Cover and let stand 20 to 25 minutes or until most of the water is absorbed. Drain and squeeze out any remaining water.

2. Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the zucchini and mushrooms and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook 1 minute.

3. Stir the zucchini mixture and the remaining ingredients into the bulgur. Serve warm or cold.

IF YOU’VE ENJOYED MISO only in that light, savory soup that often kicks off a Japanese meal, then you’re in for some treats. The fermented-soybean paste is a versatile seasoning that can be incorporated into many other dishes. For example:

© ASIAN FOOD GROCER

• As a base for other soups
• To make an even creamier risotto
• Brushed on baked or grilled vegetables, including corn on the cob
• Adding a new dimension to mashed potatoes
• Used as a marinade for fish
• Blended into dips and sauces

Miso is low in fat, has no cholesterol and offers a balance of protein, carbohydrates, essential oils, minerals, vitamins and isoflavones. A tub of miso paste lasts well in the refrigerator. I find yellow miso the most versatile, but sometimes experiment with the white and red varieties as well.

Miso can, however, be high in sodium, so if you’re keeping an eye on that, be sure to compare labels: Some brands have less sodium per tablespoon than others that are labeled “low-sodium”.