Friendly Friday- a Grill and Chill

This entry is for the people who love grilling out with friends.  My friends Brooke and Nick joined me for a poolside grill out on a Friday evening.  We conquered the humidity, rain, malfunctioning grills and bugs to triumph with an absolutely delicious supper.  (... we tried to follow up with a movie, but Brooke and I were asleep in minutes.  Nick said it was funny though).

My Longaberger picnic basket... wait 'til you see what was inside!

Quirky story- My first big purchase in graduate school was a Longaberger picnic basket.  (Why yes, I am Southern born and raised; thank you for asking... LOL).  Anyway, I had all these dreams of going on romantic picnics, etc, and in reality, I've probably used this basket three or four times tops.  All of them have been memorable occasions though so I save face in that respect.  It was perfect for brunch at the running of the Nashville Iroquois Steeplechase, a holder for silverware at my graduation dinner and finally, this beautiful Friday evening cookout.

Brooke's sangria recipe... sure to please. 
(Compliments to my bestie Megan of Crooked Seams for the beautiful table runner)

Brooke provided this beautiful sangria mixture.  To make, combine the following ingredients and chill overnight:

• 2 bottles red Spanish wine
• 1 cup brandy
• 1/2 cup triple sec
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1 cup pomegranate juice
• Sliced oranges, apples and whole blackberries for beauty 

222 cal/ 10 carbs/ 0 g fat/ 0 g protein per wine glass.  Serves ~ 8 glasses.

Grilled nectarines in molasses with goat cheese.

This nectarine dish came about from a nectarine sale at the farmer's market (5 for $2.00). 

• 5 nectarines, peeled and quartered
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses
• 1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese

I peeled the nectarines, and Nick abandoned the quartering to Brooke.  I melted the butter and mixed it with blackstrap molasses, poured this mixture over the nectarines to coat, and grilled until grill marks were visible.  (Due to malfunctioning 'commercial' outdoor grills, I grilled this on my George Foreman grill.)  I served these warm (a 1 cup serving) with 2 tablespoons of crumbled goat cheese to top.

193 cal/ 30 g carbs/ 9 g fat/ 3 g protein per serving.  Serves 3.

  

Roasting sweet corn and baking asparagus.

Since the outdoor grills were a flop, an oven set to broil saved the day in preparation of the ears of corn and asparagus.  I wrapped the corn (with husks) in aluminum foil and brushed the asparagus with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon sea salt and 1/4 teaspoon of oregano.  I left the veggies under broil for ~20 minutes. 

98 cal/ 6 g carbs/ 9 g fat/ 3 g protein per 10 asparagus stalks

Grilled Rosemary Lemon Chicken. My FAVORITE chicken dish!

While the vegetables were cooking, I placed the chicken breasts I had seasoned overnight on the George Foreman grill.  The night before, I had added the following ingredients to a 1 gallon ziplock bag:

• 3 chicken breasts with rib meat (free range, no hormones, etc.)
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 2 lemons, juice and zest
• 2 tablespoons dried rosemary
• 1.5 tablespoons olive oil

After ziplocking the bag, I rubbed the seasonings into the chicken breasts and placed them in the refrigerator overnight and all day the following day.

284 cal/ 0 g carbs/ 6 g fat/ 53 g protein per chicken breast

The spread.

This is a fairly new bit of awesomeness to my kitchen- once the corn is roasted, the husks AND silks will shuck EASILY away from the corn.  This definitely beats the days of having to shuck corn before boiling!  Trust me, when there are entire rows of corn coming from the garden, shucking or lack thereof is a VERY big deal!  (I mixed up 2 tablespoons salted butter, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder and 1/4 teaspoon oregano to brush on the corn).

158 cal/ 18 g carbs/ 9 g fat/ 3 g protein per ear

Fit for royalty... or at least loved ones :)

The finished product was truly lovely, and the wonderful company made it even tastier.  There were definitely a few silent moments while everyone dove in.  After all, dinner was delayed at least an hour due to the malfunctioning grills (3 total).

Fruit shortcakes for dessert.

Brooke and Nick had a genius idea for dinner- mini fruit shortcakes.  Okay, so this doesn't look so mini, but we had already had a feast so the dessert was equally impressive.  We used:

• 1 quart of strawberries, chopped
• 2 kiwis, sliced
• 1 pint raspberries
• 1 pint blackberries
• Reddi wip topping
• shortcake dessert shell
• strawberry sauce (homemade- boiled strawberry with sugar)

214 cal/ 42 g carbs/ 4 g fat/ 4 g protein  per topped shortcake

**Notes**

1. I would recommend light meals during the day prior to this feast, and a workout wouldn't hurt either.
2. Double check grills are working before inviting people to dinner... oops.  ALWAYS have a backup plan.
3. I usually include storage information on my recipes, but this is one feast that rarely has leftovers remaining.  :)  Enjoy!