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Fire up with Marquette's grill master

By Jessie Bazan, communication senior

Looking for a meal that's mouth-watering and family-friendly? Dax Phillips has you covered. The Law School's director of technology and resident chef has more than 800 recipes on his blog, simplecomfortfood.com. With a kitchen stocked full of spices and staple foods, Phillips concocts all kinds of original recipes that he hopes will please his main dinner customers — his wife and kids.

With summer finally in full swing, Phillips encourages families to bring out the grill and enjoy a meal outdoors. But you don't have to just stick to hot dogs and burgers. Check out Phillips' more exotic grill recipes, like Vietnamese grilled pork, grilled Romaine salad and shrimp diablo (pictured above).

To get you started, Phillips offers a few grilling tips:

• Remember, grilling is different from baking, and you should always keep an eye and ear on the grill.

• Be adventurous. Try grilling fish on soaked cedar grilling boards, or half a head of romaine or radicchio, heck even try grilling watermelon, peaches or an array of fruit for a kebab.

• Put down the grill tools. Let the meat cook over direct heat for about four minutes before even thinking of flipping it.

• Don't be afraid to use an instant-read thermometer to keep you safe from over or undercooking meat.

• Remember, when removing cooked beef or chicken from the grill, it's best to let it rest on a plate for about 5 minutes to allow all of those great juices to redistribute.

Try Dax's "Chopped Challenge." He looks through his pantry for mystery ingredients and creates something delicious — like this bacon cheeseburger flatbread. Share your favorite recipe creations below.