The Livin’ Is Easy

If your dinner parties involve a disappearing act while you juggle hot pans for half the evening, Kevin Johnson has a better solution. The executive chef and owner of the Grocery in Charleston, South Carolina, offers a summer menu that will allow you to relax as guests arrive. “If you’re going to have a great dinner party, stress yourself out a day or two before, so when guests arrive, you can hang out and enjoy yourself,” Johnson says. “With a bit of planning, a lot can be done ahead.”

Good planning may be why the 2014 James Beard semi-finalist has time to be a board member for the Charleston Wine + Food Festival teach at the Culinary Institute of Charleston. Not to mention working on behalf of Lowcountry Local First, promoting locally-owned businesses.

Blanched snap beans and shaved radish pair well with coin-like slices of Charleston’s ubiquitous pickled shrimp, dressed by the pickling juice. Shaved summer squash with lemon juice, olive oil, pecorino, Marcona almonds, and lots of mint does double duty by using up a notorious bumper crop and creating more crunch. It’s countered by a chewy tabbouleh, made with farro rather than the traditional cracked wheat so it can be made ahead.

The dinner’s star is the leg of lamb. “I chose lamb because I think it’s reserved too much for special occasions,” Johnson says. “People are a little bit intimidated by it, but why not celebrate with lamb instead of throwing a bunch of steaks on the grill?” Johnson’s lamb is rubbed with North African spices and then basted with rosemary, lemon, and olive oil. For the home griller, Johnson advises lighting one side of the grill and putting the lamb on the other side so it cooks slowly over indirect heat. “You want to cook it low and slow. You don’t want to take a big hunk of meat and just slap it on the grill,” he says.

The main thing is that the dishes don’t have to be served piping hot, which means that you can relax at your dinner party, and pour yourself a cocktail. This is Charleston, after all.