Seriously.

Somebody please remind my kids that someday they will be longing for food like mom used to make.

torsdag 12 juli 2012

Grilling sides


Tonight we grilled ribs and chicken, since the weather was nice. The chicken was for me, because that's how I roll. We have a few  side dishes we make frequently,where grilled meat is concerned, and here is a sampler. 

Halloumi
Halloumi is a kind of cheese from Cyprus. It is salty, hard, and chewy. It kind of makes squeaky, rubbery noises when you chew it, but it is delicious.


As far as side dishes go, this is one of the simplest. Just slice it, and either toss it in a frying pan with some olive oil, or grill it. We grill it on oiled foil since it has a tendency to fall apart and stick to the grate. Oiled foil, try saying that three times fast. 

Grilled Halloumi
When grilled, it is the perfect combination of crispy, chewy, and salty. 

Another barbecue staple is the tossed potato salad. Boil a few potatoes and let them cool a while. 


Make a tossed salad - lettuce, tomato, red onion, cucumber, bell peppers, or whatever you like and/or have in the fridge. Then add the potatoes. Normally, if I weren't already consuming two forms of cheese in one meal, I would add some feta cheese cubes. Today, I decided three cheese-related sides was a bit overboard. Toss it with some vinagrette. 

Tossed potato salad
I would say easy as pie, but this is much easier than pie. I don't find pie to be that easy, so I have no idea who decided to coin that turn of phrase, but they were probably just trying to make the rest of us have a pie-related inferiority complex. I digress. The good thing about this is that the kids kan pick out and eat what they want to, and throw the rest on the floor. Wait...is that a good thing? Generally, any meal that doesn't end in an argument is a good one, so I guess it may be.


Then we have a more recent acquisition in our barbecue portfolio, the bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers. Halve, de-seed and de-vein the desired number of jalapenos, fill with cream cheese, then wrap in bacon. Piece of cake. I love cake. Especially wedding sheet cake. 


Then just pop them on the grill. Most of the spiciness cooks out of them. 

Bacon-wrapped Jalapeno poppers
Salty, creamy, and slightly spicy. Yum.

The toddler ate some chicken and a few potatoes, then decided she had to have my husband's knife and fork to eat with. The baby utensils were just not going to suffice. So he got her utensils of her own so he could actually eat his meal, and she spent the rest of the meal playing around with them. Toward the end she started making faces at big sis, who in turn mimicked lil sis for a while before getting up to dance around behind her and give mom and dad indigestion from not being able to eat in peace. The toddler threw her sippy cup on the floor a number of times and practiced "Skål"-ing with us all in turn, before deciding to start throwing food on the floor. That is the general signal she is done, even though she knows how to say "all-done". It just isn't as fulfilling to say it, apparently. The big girl ate ribs with gusto, picked at a few other food items on her plate, pronounced herself a carnivore, and decided she was full. A normal meal, in other words.

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