"skewers" news and stories

It's easy to make healthy eats taste great when you cook with seasonal ingredients. Grapefruit is a wonderful example, and you're in luck because it's in season right now. Perhaps you have tart memories of squeezing yourself in the eye while experimenting dieting on plain grapefruit halves, but there are so many other creative ways to serve this tart fruit. It doesn't have to be restricted to breakfast; consider these recipes for turning this figure-friendly fruit into appetizers and party drinks.

In a welcome respite from subpar airport fare, "Iron Chef" Masaharu Morimoto is partnering with hospitality and food service company Delaware North to provide fast-casual eateries serving Japanese bar food in airports across the country.

The bistros, appropriately titled Skewers, will serve an assortment of yakitori -- skewered grilled or deep-fried meats and vegetables -- served with rice bowls for portable consumption, as well as soups and salads. The restaurants' settings would take the form of two different models -- a take-out counter and a traditional sit-down approach -- and both would feature open kitchens.

According to Vito Buscemi, director of Concept Portfolio for Delaware North, the line has "great menu variety and great presentation -- all the meats and vegetables are grilled right in front of you. It's very quick, convenient and healthy, and we think it's going to have mass appeal."

Cereal with blueberries. Photo: TheBusyBrain, Flickr

• Another reminder that children need breakfast, and how to pull together a healthy one.
• Cooking teacher Robin Blair's "Cooking with C.A.R.E." teaches the importance of whipping up food with "confidence, artistry, resourcefulness and ease."
• Cleveland's Valerio is a mixture of eats, from "fall-off-the-bone-tender" osso buco to disappointing pasta dishes.
• How to deliver dining complaints in a calm, cool manner, and the perks of writing the restaurant a letter.
• Castello Banfi Le Rime 2008 is a chardonnay and pinot grigio mix that's "a terrific hot-weather wine," while Roo Brew Litigation Lager is a pale lager with a good label.
  
• An Ohio food rundown, from the state's food future to Cuyahoga Valley Countryside Conservancy's canning class.
• Recipe: Watermelon and Tomato Skewers.

Last night, a friend introduced me to a fun appetizer idea that makes a terrific edible centerpiece. When I pushed for the inspiration, she admitted that it was a concept borrowed from another friend, who always serves it at parties. It is simply white and green tortellini (the secret is to only cook it for half the time the package directs, or it will be too soft to stay on the skewer), a grape tomato and a small ball of fresh mozzarella wrapped in a basil leaf.

As you can see from the picture, she arranged them in a vase, so that they look almost like a flower arrangement. It made the table gorgeous and they were absolutely delicious to boot.

photo by Marisa McClellan