The best birthday gift -- and a Summer Time Meal!

I celebrated my birthday this past weekend and I was given an amazing birthday gift from my boyfriend. I've been wanting a grill for about a year but this grill goes above and beyond what I ever thought I would get. It's a Brinkman with 4 burners and has a side burner. It's HUGE and I love it!!

I took the day off on Monday to run some errands but the thing I really wanted to accomplish was to make a fab meal using Mr. Brinkman. A few weeks ago while I was at the gym, I forgot my ipod so I had to watch a tv program during cardio. I decided to watch Rachel Ray (I think I'm the only person who watches a tv program about food while exercising!) and she had a summer year round meal. Since this Chicago Summer is yet to completely appear, I thought I would bring summer to my plate. This meal was adapted from RR -- be sure to break out your EVOO :)

Rosemary-Garlic Chicken with Spring Mix Lettuce, Tomatoes and Asiago Cheese

* 4 Chicken breasts
* 2 cloves garlic, cracked from skin and halved
* Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling, plus 2 tablespoons
* 4 sprigs rosemary very finely chopped
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper or grill seasoning, if desired
* 4 cups Spring Mix Lettuce
* 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
* 1 lemon
* Asaigo cheese, for grating

Rub meat with cut garlic. Drizzle the meat with olive oil, rub with rosemary and season liberally with salt and pepper or grill seasoning. Cook chicken on the grill until no longer pink - about 10 minutes.

Dress greens and halved tomatoes with the juice of 1 lemon, 2 tablespoons olive oil and salt and pepper. Pile salad on top of sliced chicken and garnish with long grates of cheese made with vegetable peeler.

Spicy Devil Potato Salad

* 2 1/2 pounds baby Yukon gold potatoes, halved
* Salt
* 1 tablespoon ground fennel
* 1 tablespoon smoked sweet paprika
* 2 tablespoons chili powder
* 1 tablespoon grill seasoning or coarse salt and pepper
* 2 tablespoons grainy mustard
* 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
* 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 small red onion, chopped
* 3 to 4 ribs celery with leafy greens, finely chopped
* A generous handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
* 3 tablespoons chopped yellow hot pepper rings

Place potatoes in pot, cover with water, bring to a boil then salt the water. Cook potatoes 12 to 15 minutes until tender.

While potatoes cook, combine spices and mustard with vinegar, whisk in olive oil and add the onions, celery and parsley to the bowl. Drain potatoes and toss them in dressing while they're still hot, they'll absorb more dressing and flavor. Garnish salad with chopped hot peppers.