Last summer, I attempted to grill some zucchini. I used a tin foil "pouch" I created myself. It all went well, until I tried to bring the zucchini in the house. Half of it ended up on the deck. The rest tasted pretty good :) So, this year, I bought a 8 1/2" x 11" grilling basket. It worked SO MUCH better! This one is from Pampered Chef:
I told my brother in law, Scot, that I was excited to use my new basket, so he gave me some good tips! Here's what I did this time:
* 4 small zucchini squash
* 2 small yellow squash
* 1 orange bell pepper
* 1/4 purple onion
* cracked pepper
* garlic powder
* onion powder
* sea salt
* Parmesan cheese sprinkle
Slice the zucchini and yellow squash. Slice the orange pepper and remove the seeds. Cut into strips, and cut the strips in half. (I used the orange pepper because it's pretty, and has mild flavor.) Peel & slice the onion. Take 1/4 of the onion and chop it into small chunks. Place the veggies in the grilling basket. Spritz generously with olive oil. Sprinkle with cracked pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Use a heat-safe spoon to mix until veggies are evenly coated with the oil & spices. Set on a medium-low grill and close the lid. Stir the veggies while cooking about every 5 minutes until just tender. I cooked my chicken on the other side of the grill at the same time.
When the veggies are crisp-tender, remove from grill. I set the hot basket on a sheet of tin foil I put on top of 2 hot pads. Sprinkle with sea salt and Parmesan cheese & stir to coat. Putting the salt on AFTER grilling keeps the salt from sucking the moisture out of the veggies while they cook. Serve warm! I love the flavor of grilled food!!!
This week, I tried out my new recipes on my sister and her husband. They were good sports :) Carrie is allergic to food. Ok, not ALL food, but a lot of it. She has a board on Pinterest called "Carrie Safe Food," so I went looking there to see what I could come up with to try today. I'm so happy to say I was pretty successful!
I didn't use a recipe, which ends up in success for me maybe 50% of the time. Today I was lucky! I grilled Bacon Wrapped Chicken, and it was yummy! Here's what I did:
* Boneless chicken breast strips
* Bacon
* Smokey Applewood Rub (from Pampered Chef)
* Sea Salt
* Freshly ground pepper
* Olive oil
I cut several round toothpicks in half, and pre-soaked them in some water. Using a cake pan to work over, spritz the raw chicken strips with olive oil. Sprinkle with Smokey Applewood Rub (or spices of your choice) and use your fingers to "rub" & coat the chicken with the oil & spices. For Carrie, I used sea salt and ground peppercorns. Cut bacon strips in half. Wrap half of a bacon strip around each chicken piece. Use the water-soaked toothpicks to secure the bacon on each end (like a straight pin).
Preheat gas grill, then set on medium-low. Grill the wrapped chicken, turning once or twice, until the bacon is crispy and the chicken is cooked through. Remove the toothpick pieces prior to serving. Mmmmmmm! The grilled veggies and red potatoes were yummy too!
