BBQ menu

July 20, 2012

Having a BBQ tonight with some friends.  Found out our grill was dead so last night the hubby and I bought a new one and put it together from 8:30-11:30pm (after he'd worked a full day - poor hubby). It looks pretty badass though, and now that we've built it we also know how all the parts work and what to replace if it breaks.  As we were putting it together I think we figured out how we could have fixed the old gas grill, but too late.  The junk guys who go down our ally looking for metal are going to be stoked.  Annnnnyway.....

I always cook too much, but I'd rather have too much than not enough.
Here's the menu:

Starters: Chips & Salsa, Watermelon.

Drinks:  Sarasota Lemonade (Mix 2 bottles of Moscato + 1 container of frozen pink lemonade concentrate + 3 cups sprite + 1/2 container of crushed raspberries + ice).  Add fresh raspberries to individual drinks.  AND Adult Root-beer Floats (pour 2 oz vanilla vodka over ice, and 5 oz. root beer.  Top with whip cream.)  Serve with a straw!  Beer (but really, would you drink beer with the other two available??)
VERDICT:  Sarasota lemonade was AWESOME!  I put it in mason jars, sealed them and threw them in the cooler with beer.  They were soooo yummy.  The root-beer floats were also good, but a little strong.  I made them with vanilla ice cream.

Burgers: They should be juicy! (Mix 2 lbs 80% lean ground beef + 1 egg + 3/4 c. bread crumbs + 3 Tbs. evaporated milk + 2 Tbs. worcestershire + 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper + 2 tbs chopped garlic with your hands.  Make into 8 patties).
VERDICT:  I wound up using 2.25 pounds of 75% lean ground beef.  The flavor was fine, but it needed salt & pepper and way less bread crumbs (maybe a quarter cup or more less).

Sides:  Caprese Pasta Salad (4 cups cooked & cooled pasta + 2 cups sliced grape tomatoes + 8 oz fresh mozzarella cut into 1/2 inch cubes + 2 Tbs olive oil + salt & pepper to taste.)  Tabbouleh (1/2 cup bulgar soaked in water for 30 minutes + 1/4 c. lemon juice + 2 Tbs olive oil + 1/2 tsp minced garlic + 1/4 tsp salt + pepper to taste + 2 bunches (2 cups) of flat leaf parsley chopped  + 1/4 c. fresh chopped mint + 2 tomatoes diced + 1 small cucumber peeled seeded & diced.  Toss & Chill.
VERDICT:  The Caprese Pasta salad was good but I didn't salt it enough and it could have benefitted from a little balsamic vinegar.  The Tabbouleh was AWESOME and I forgot the cucumber.  Ooops.  It was a huge hit, which actually surprised me.

Dessert:  Grilled Banana Smores (slice 1 banana per person down the middle & stuff with mini marshmallows & chocolate chips.  Wrap in tin foil & grill.  Sprinkle with crushed graham crackers.  I will also serve with ice cream if people want it.
VERDICT:   We wound up having the root beer floats for dessert.  Guess I'll make the banana later!

What do you think?  Too much?  Just enough?  There will only be 5 people there :) HA!

Fruit, Chicken & Goat Cheese Spinach Salad

Friday June 29 Dinner

Simple tonight, strawberry, blueberry, and chicken spinach salad with optional goat cheese.  Dressing will be just balsamic vinegar that I got at the Olive Oil Shops.  It's so good it doesn't need anything else.

Chicken & Corn Salad. Cauliflower Tots!

Wed. June 27, 2012.

Tonight's dinner.

Chicken with Corn.  From Weight Watchers Magazine. Makes 4 servings.  Pointsplus 6

1.  Remove kernels from 3 ears husked corn on the cob.  Mix Kernels with 2 Tbs. water in a shallow microwavable casserole.  Cover with paper towel and microwave on high until corn is crisp-tender, 1:30-2 minutes.

2.  Meanwhile, whisk 2 tsp olive oil, 1.5 tsp balsamic vinegar, and .25 tsp kosher salt in a large bowl; stir in 2.5 c. diced cooked chicken breast, 1 c. halved tiny red & yellow tomatoes, .25 c. chopped fresh basil and 12 sliced pitted green olives.  

Combine.

Also making Cauliflower Tots.  I initially heard about them on pinterest, but did a search for a weight watchers friendly version (linked above).

Review
Salad:  This is absolutely delicious! I will definitely make this again.

Tots:  I screwed up the recipe and they still came out well.  I wound up ricing the cauliflower in my cuisinart (like the recipe said), but I didn't cook it.  I just tried to squeeze out the water (does anyone have a good method for this?  I used paper towels... there has to be an easier way).  Then I added the ingredients, shaped the tots, baked them on parchment (highly suggest)... and they came out great!  Pretty sure I could eat the entire recipe.  And since other than cauliflower it's just 1 egg and 1 egg white... oh and half a cup of low fat cheese... it can't be that bad.  The recipe says 15 for 3 points.  I don't know that mine were the same size as the original chefs.  Even my husband liked these and I've made cauliflower faux mashed potatoes before, and he HATED them.  So this is kind of huge.

Anyway - good dinner tonight!