It’s summertime, and the living is supposed to be easy. Here’s a great way to make enough tasty dinners for the whole week during one grill session, while you have a light beer or two.

All you need is chicken, shrimp, veggies and some cathartic grill time. Put your grilling music on and work with the following:
Chicken
A big package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts can easily provide a week’s worth of 4- to 5-ounce servings. Here’s how to flavor them up:

• Whisk 1/4 cup kosher salt with 2 cups water in a large bowl until salt dissolves, add breasts and enough extra water to cover them completely. Place in the fridge for 1 hour while you fire up the grill.
• Take chicken breasts out of water and sprinkle each with a different favorite spice rub. Look for salt-free versions of any of these at the supermarket: lemon-pepper seasoning, jerk rub, Cajun blackened seasoning, dried herb blends (from Italian to French to Greek), chili powder, curry powder.
• Set breasts over high heat and grill until an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breasts registers 165°F, about 8 minutes, turning once.

Hot off the grill, they’re great with a summery salad of chopped lettuce, tomato, radish and cucumber.

Refrigerate the rest and eat them throughout the week like so...

• Sliced, cold, over a bed of 4 cups chopped romaine lettuce and 3 tablespoons bottled lowfat Caesar dressing
• Sliced in a whole-wheat tortilla wrap with one large zucchini (shredded through the large holes of a box grater) and 2 tablespoons jarred salsa
• Sliced and tossed with 1 cup cooked and drained pasta, 1 cup thawed frozen mixed vegetables and 2 tablespoons lowfat bottled Italian dressing
• Cubed in a whole-wheat pita pocket with 1 cup bagged bean sprouts and 2 tablespoons bottled, lowfat Thai peanut sauce

Shrimp
Buy peeled and deveined large frozen shrimp. Shrimp don’t require a brine or a marinade. Just crank on some black pepper to taste and toss them directly over high heat on the grill. Cook until pink and firm, turning once, about 5 minutes.

Hot off the grill, they need little more than a dip in bottled, lowfat barbecue sauce.

Refrigerate the rest and try these meals all week:

• Mix 2 cups chopped cooked shrimp with 1/4 cup lowfat mayonnaise, 1/4 cup mango chutney and 2 teaspoons bottled curry powder.
• Put a 1/4 cup bottled cocktail sauce into a martini glass and hang six shrimp off the edge. Carrot sticks and celery ribs make a good garnish.
• Throw a few shrimp in a fat-free whole-wheat tortilla, add 2 tablespoons green salsa, 2 tablespoons shredded lowfat cheese and 1/2 cup shredded lettuce.
• Put baby spinach leaves in a bowl, add a little chopped red onion, some sliced raw mushrooms if you want, a few shrimp and some bottled lowfat honey-mustard dressing.

Vegetables
Here’s the produce you need for a week:

• Green, yellow and red bell peppers, cored, seeded and cut into 1-inch chunks
• Zucchini or yellow crookneck squash, cut into 1/2-inch rings
• Asparagus spears, any woody base ends removed
• Eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch-thick rings
• Red onion, cut into 1/2-inch-thick rings
• Fennel, fronds removed, the bulb cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices through the root

Place all your veggies over high heat on the grill, then cook until tender and lightly browned, turning once. Asparagus, zucchini and yellow squash will take about 6 minutes; eggplant and onion, about 8 minutes; and fennel, about 10 minutes.

Hot off the grill or chilled from the fridge over the next few days, here are your meals:

• Set some veggies on a large platter alongside some thinly sliced prosciutto, cubed lowfat mozzarella and jarred artichoke hearts marinated in water. Drizzle a little balsamic vinegar over the whole platter right before you serve it up.
• Spread 2 tablespoons of hummus on toasted whole-wheat bread, add about 3/4 cup mixed grilled vegetables and a leaf of crunchy romaine lettuce.
• Warm 2 fat-free corn tortillas in the microwave for 30 seconds, then fill each with 1/2 cup veggies and 2 tablespoons jarred salsa before folding closed.
• Mix 2 cups grilled vegetables and 1/3 cup lowfat ranch dressing and serve as a wrap, either on lettuce leaves or in a whole-wheat pita pocket.

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