Anticipation regarding grilling season can be a thing of the past. Grilling season can be all year long in your kitchen. A delicious way to prove that is by easily pulling together some delicious pulled meats right on your kitchen stovetop.

Many of us only have been treated to the saucy delicacy served between soft thick sandwich buns at barbecue restaurants. However, it takes just a few minutes at home to shred meat and cook it up with barbecue sauce and seasonings. Surprisingly, barbecued-sauce pulled meat is an easy one-pot meal.

You can season and prepare your own meat. Check out the simple steamed pulled pork sandwich that follows from Good Housekeeping. But, it's even more convenient to purchase an already cooked product, like a rotisserie chicken.

Whatever type of already seasoned and cooked poultry (remove skin before shredding) or meat with which you are starting, simply let it cool and, as the title implies, pull it apart and it will be shredded. Then, like in the pork sandwich that follows (and the same can be done with chicken or other meats), place the meat in a pot and combine with barbecue sauce (store-bought jars can save time here, too), and dashes of water, spicy brown mustard and vinegar of your choice. Heat thoroughly and serve over whole-grain hamburger buns or other thick round buns.

Ellie Krieger, one of the country's top nutritionists and a Food Network star, shows how light a choice rotisserie chicken can be in this pulled sandwich rendition for which she has you creating your own easy barbecue sauce. Season after season, it has remained one of my favorite recipes:

PULLED ROTISSERIE CHICKEN SANDWICH

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 (14-ounce) can low-sodium tomato sauce

1/4 cup tomato paste

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

5 tablespoons molasses

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke

1 whole rotisserie chicken, skin removed, meat shredded into thin strips (about 4 to 4 1/2 cups)

6 whole-wheat hamburger rolls

6 large green lettuce leaves

Yields 6 servings.

Heat the oil in a large saute pan over a medium heat. Add the onions and cook until they are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, vinegar, molasses, pepper and liquid smoke and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes. Add chopped chicken, return to a simmer, and cook an additional 10 minutes.

Split rolls. Place a leaf of lettuce on each roll, then pile on 3/4 cup of the chicken mixture onto the roll.

-FoodNetwork.com

PULLED PORK SANDWICH

1 tablespoon water, plus additional for steaming

1 1/2 teaspoons (preferably salt-free) chili powder

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon dry mustard powder

1/4 teaspoon, plus 1 / 8 teaspoon, salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 pound pork tenderloin, cut into 2-inch-thick medallions

3 cup shredded cabbage mix for coleslaw

2 tablespoons, plus 1 teaspoon, apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoon snipped fresh chives

1 tablespoon, plus 2 teaspoons, spicy brown mustard

1/3 cup barbecue sauce

4 soft whole-wheat hamburger buns, lightly toasted

Yields 4 servings.

Fill 6-quart saucepot with 1 inch water and add steamer insert. Cover; heat to boiling on high. Reduce heat to medium.

In small bowl, combine chili powder, smoked paprika, dry mustard, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Rub spices all over pork. Place pork in steamer; cover and steam 18 to 20 minutes, until pork is 145 degrees F in center, carefully turning over once with a utensil.

Meanwhile, in medium bowl, toss cabbage mix with 2 tablespoons vinegar, chives, 1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard, and 1/8 teaspoon salt; set aside.

With utensil, carefully transfer pork to plate. Discard water in pot; remove steamer. When cool enough to handle, shred pork into bite-size pieces.

Return pork to saucepot. Stir in barbecue sauce, 1 tablespoon water, and remaining 2 teaspoons spicy brown mustard and 1 teaspoon vinegar. Cook on medium until hot, stirring frequently. Divide pork and slaw among buns.

—GoodHousekeeping.com

Photo courtesy of FoodNetwork.com

AFTER-WORK GOURMET COOKBOOK SHELF

Regarding storing Italian coffee, Lou Di Palo, author of "Di Palo's Guide to the Essential Foods of Italy: 100 Years of Wisdom and Stories from Behind the Counter," writes: "Once a sealed bag or can has been opened, you should try to use it within a week or so because it will begin to lose its intensity after just a few days. Once you open a brick or can, the nitrogen that kept the roasted beans fresh disappears, no matter where or how you store your beans, and it's exacerbated in beans that are already ground. (Kept sealed in the bag or can with the gas, they are good for about a year.)"

You can make BBQ pulled chicken sandwiches with the use of convenient store-bought rotisserie chicken.

Lisa Messinger is a first-place winner in food writing from the Association of Food Journalists and the author of seven food books, including "Mrs. Cubbison's Best Stuffing Cookbook" and "The Sourdough Bread Bowl Cookbook." To find out more about Lisa Messinger and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.