Spontaneous Mediterranean Meal

I had a whole bunch of veggies from our CSA and didn't really have a meal already planned. I started searching the internet and came across a lamb kabob and couscous recipe via Williams-Sanoma and just improvised. I didn't have lamb, but chicken. I had the red onion and squash but didn't ironically have red pepper (I always have red pepper) and of course I buy couscous in bulk because it is my go to summer side dish staple. Here is what I came up with...
1. I roasted the broccoli with olive oil, salt & pepper and a little garlic powder in a baking dish on the BBQ.
2. On the cast iron grill plate I did the squash and red pepper, that had olive oil, salt & pepper, and some cumin.
3. Skewered the chicken tenders and seasoned with olive oil, salt& pepper, and cumin.
4. Traditional couscous recipe: chicken stock, pinch of salt, olive oil, garlic powder, cumin, parsley.

It was extremely delicious, I find that chicken tenders are perfect for kabobs if not for anything else other than ease of use. And yes it was all a little one note (cumin, salt and pepper olive oil to be specific) which critics might laugh at, but for a family dinner at home it was simply delicious and just the right amount of spices for everyone to enjoy. We will have it again.

Grilled Asian Chicken Part Deux

Click here for the original post and marinade recipe.

This is a meal that is one of my husbands favorite, white rice, grilled veggies, and Asian marinaded chicken. I think if my daughter wasn't a little distracted with Dora's birthday show I would have had more of her attention but as it was she ate a few grilled squash and onion and half a chicken breast and some rice which is pretty good. Again this marinade is quick (this one went for about 15 minutes) and it lends itself to great grill marks.

The chicken breasts, I have mentioned before, lately are HUGE! I have just automatically taken to butterflying the breasts (so I start out with two HUGE breasts and end up with Four) which is usually enough for us to have left overs for lunch the following day. How do you portion your chicken? And apart from our or rather "my" little freak out in the kitchen with raw chicken and uncomprehending two year olds, Molly helped me assemble the ingredients and was with me during the preparation.

Turned out great again, I used more orange juice this time and sesame oil it is a very unforgiving marinade. And I just searched through my fridge for whatever veggies I had that would be great on the grill. With our CSA bag we have had a lot of sweet onions and summer squash this summer. And thankfully our propane tank held out to cook the meal, have to get a new tank tomorrow with this heat there is no way I am cooking inside!

This was our dinner on Friday (Saturday was our anniversary and while we didn't have our big anniversary dinner, that is on Tuesday, I didn't want to cook so we went out to Noodles & Co. which is always great). I love burgers on the grill, and again I have a huge amount of green beans from our CSA so they are a constant lately. As are the potatoes, which just keep getting better the more we use our grill pan. If you have one of these, yes you can use it in your house on your stove top but have you thought about taking it out to your grill?



Linked to Mingle Monday (I am a featured blog this week on this one!),  Meet Me Mondays, Making Friends Monday,


And just for fun I am popping in a pic of my Molly from yesterday, or Friday (can't remember which one) when we were trying to beat the heat, swimming pool and water table does the trick!