It happens every June: the invasion of the salad greens. Those little seeds that seemed so inconsequential back in April when you scattered them on the moist garden soil have now come to life, and with a vengeance.

This year, abundant moisture and relatively cool days have produced lush crops of lettuce and other greens. Even if you don't grow your own, the mounds of lettuce and its verdant relatives that appear at area farmers' markets are signs that this is a good season for salads.

As a gardener, the arrival of this leafy yield makes me feel proud. At least I did something right.

But as a cook, this abundance scares me. I know I only have so much time to pick and enjoy the harvest. Once hot weather sets in for good, and here in Maryland that can be as early as mid-June, those once-tender greens turn tough. Already, the recent 90-degree days we've experienced have sent parts of my plants skyward. They "bolt," sending shoots toward the heavens, and they start flowering.

Some of the arugula plants in my vegetable garden have sprouted picturesque white blooms. While those distinctive white flowers are pretty, the supposedly edible leaves of the plant are raspy and unwelcoming. Even my leaf lettuce — black seeded Simpson, oak leaf and red salad bowl — have shown signs of souring. This transformation from tenderness to toughness reminds me of the time when kids turn from adoring offspring into sullen teenagers. It is all part of nature, I guess.

The other day, as I picked several sacks of greens, getting down in the dirt on my hands and knees, slicing stalks with my pocket knife, I began to think of ways to use my harvest. Back at the house, I dumped the greens in a large laundry sink and began the laborious process of washing them. As the greens soaked, I consulted cookbooks and websites for recipes.

The treatment that immediately appealed to me was grilling the greens on my barbecue cooker. I have been accused of being a grilling fanatic, of slapping anything edible on the grill. To this I plead guilty. But it is a lot of fun, and more often than not it produces interesting eats.

Happily, that was the case with grilled greens. After drying off some washed arugula leaves, I brushed them with a mixture of sea salt and olive oil, then placed them in a metal grill basket over a charcoal fire.

They wilted quickly, faster than the euro. There was a great deal of shrinkage, as two or three handfuls of fresh greens were reduced to one handful by the heat. I suppose you could also wilt arugula and other greens in a skillet on the stove, or in a broiler, but doing this over a live fire was a kick. It also tempered the rough flavors of the arugula and gave it a slightly smoky flavor.

Once I got them off the grill, I chopped the greens and tossed them with a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. This was variation of a recipe on the website of Food & Wine magazine. The results were pleasing. The pungency of the arugula had been tamed, yet there was still some distinctive vegetable flavor. It would be a great side dish with grilled meats.

Emboldened, I grilled some black seeded Simpson and oak leaf lettuce that had been brushed with the olive oil and sea salt mixture. The lettuce leaves wilted even faster than the arugula, but they still had the winning combination of smoke and crunch.

While tossing lettuce on the grill was new to me, other folks have been at it for a while. I came across several recipes for grilled romaine. Some treatments, such as the one in Karen Adler and Judith Fertig's book "300 Big & Bold Barbecue Grilling Recipes," called for grilling the leaves then chopping them and tossing them with a vinaigrette. Others called for sprinkling grated Parmesan cheese on the romaine leaves then grilling them.

I have more arugula on my hands than romaine, so I also looked around for recipes that did not require grilling. Some people, I am told, do not attempt to grill every food item that comes into their kitchen.

I found a recipe for a more conventional salad in the "Bon Appetit Fast Easy Fresh" cookbook. It called for mixing blood oranges, or pink grapefruit, with arugula and blue cheese and tossing the greens with a mixture of lemon juice and olive oil.

I tried this salad the other night. It had crisp, acidic flavors. But I must confess that a major attraction of this salad for me was that it called for a big portion (10 cups) of arugula.

Making this salad took a hunk out of my mountain of fresh greens, and for a gardener swimming in perishable salad fixings, that is a good thing.

Grilled Lettuces

Makes: 6 servings

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 heads Belgian endive, halved lengthwise (see note)

1 large head radicchio, cut into 6 wedges (see note)

1 head romaine lettuce, quartered (see note)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

(Note: Other greens, such as arugula and loose leaf lettuce can be substituted. But these need to grilled in a grill pan to keep the leaves from falling in the fire.)

Prepare a charcoal or gas grill for moderately high heat or preheat a ridged grill pan over moderately high heat. Brush a tablespoon of the olive oil over the lettuces, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Grill the lettuces, in a grill pan if available, turning occasionally with tongs until the greens are crisp tender and browned in spots, about 3 to 6 minutes, depending on the heat of your fire.

Coarsely chop the lettuces. In a large bowl, toss the chopped greens with the vinegar and remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste, Serve warm

Source: foodandwine.com

Arugula, grapefruit and blue cheese salad

Makes: 6 servings

10 cups (packed) arugula (about 6 ounces)

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

2 pink grapefruit (or 2 blood oranges)

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 fresh lemon juice

Combine arugula and cheese in a large bowl. Remove peel and pith from fruit, Cut between the membranes of the fruit to release segments, not the juice, into the bowl with the arugula and cheese. Pour lemon and oil over this mix, toss to blend. Season with salt and pepper.

Source: "Bon Appetit, Fast Easy Fresh"