Grilled Honey Balsamic Glazed Fruit -- The Grill, the Garden, and the Woman Who Made It Through

Week 317. Spring 2022. I am 39 years old and standing in my kitchen — the Bench house kitchen, the one that held cancer and divorce and cinnamon rolls — and the stove is on and something is cooking and the house smells like fresh herbs and possibility and this is my life. This is the life I built.

The garden is just planted, full of promise, and I stood in it this week and thought about dirt and time and the way both of them turn nothing into something if you're patient enough.

Mason is 11 and reading everything he can find and examining the world under a microscope with the intensity of a tenured researcher.

Lily is 9 and riding horses with the fearlessness of someone who has never considered the possibility of falling.

I made grilled salmon this week. The food continues. The food always continues. It is the thread that connects every week to every other week, every year to every other year, every version of me to every other version — the woman on the kitchen floor, the woman at the chemo recliner, the woman at the grill, the woman at the outdoor table under the string lights. All of them, connected by the food they made with their hands. All of them, me.

The salmon was already done, the kids were already fed, and the garden was already dark when I fired up the grill one more time that night—because the peaches were ripe and I wasn’t ready to go inside yet. This Grilled Honey Balsamic Glazed Fruit is what I made while standing under those string lights, the ones that have watched so many versions of my life unfold, and it tasted exactly like this chapter feels: warm and a little caramelized and sweeter than I expected. After 317 weeks of showing up and cooking and continuing, I’ve learned that sometimes the simplest thing on the grill is the one that says everything.

Grilled Honey Balsamic Glazed Fruit

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 8 minutes | Total Time: 18 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 2 peaches, halved and pitted
• 2 plums, halved and pitted
• 1 cup fresh strawberries, hulled
• 1 cup pineapple chunks (about 1-inch pieces)
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• Pinch of sea salt
• Fresh mint leaves, for serving (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat the grill. Heat an outdoor grill or grill pan to medium-high heat. Lightly oil the grates to prevent sticking.
2. Make the glaze. In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, cinnamon, and sea salt until well combined.
3. Prepare the fruit. Arrange the peach halves, plum halves, pineapple chunks, and strawberries on a large plate or sheet pan. Brush all surfaces generously with about half the honey balsamic glaze.
4. Grill the fruit. Place the peaches and plums cut-side down on the grill. Add pineapple and strawberries to the grill grates or a grill basket. Cook for 3—4 minutes per side, brushing with remaining glaze as you turn, until grill marks appear and fruit is tender and caramelized.
5. Rest and serve. Transfer grilled fruit to a serving platter. Drizzle with any remaining glaze from the bowl. Garnish with fresh mint leaves if desired. Serve warm on its own, over vanilla yogurt, or alongside grilled salmon.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 145 | Protein: 1g | Fat: 4g | Carbs: 29g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 40mg