Balsamic Grilled Vegetable Stacks

from Bite Me (cookbook)

Ingredients

Marinade

• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Vegetables

• 2 large red bell peppers, quartered lengthwise and seeded
• 2 large yellow peppers, quartered lengthwise and seeded
• 2 large zucchini cut into 1/3-inch diagonal slices, total of 12
• 6 medium portobello mushrooms (approx. 3-inch diameter), peeled, gills gently scooped out with small spoon
• 6 rosemary sprigs (4 inches in length), leaves removed from the bottom half

Directions

1. For the marinade, in a large bowl, whisk balsamic vinegar, olive oil, garlic, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper. Add red peppers, yellow peppers and zucchini slices, tossing well to coat. Marinate at room temperature for 15 minutes. Add mushrooms, tossing gently and marinate another 15 minutes.
2. Lightly coat grill with non-stick cooking spray and heat to medium-high heat. Remove vegetables from marinade and keep marinade to brush on vegetables while grilling. Working in batches, grill the vegetables until tender and lightly charred, about 8-10 minutes for the peppers and 7 minutes for the mushrooms and zucchini. Brush with marinade once or twice during cooking.
3. Remove from grill. When you are almost ready to serve the stacks, place the mushrooms upside down on a flat surface. Next, layer with a slice of red pepper, zucchini, yellow pepper and another slice of zucchini. Poke the rosemary sprig through the middle of each stack with the leaves at the top.

Preparation time: 35 minute(s)

Cooking time: 15 minute(s)

AWESOME Ribs!!!!

OH. My. WORD! These were SO amazingly good! Tons of flavor and yummy goodness! There wasn't an ounce of meat leftover! :)

I got this recipe from Summer 2010 Cuisine Grilling Magazine, but changed it a tiny bit. It called for frozen orange juice concentrate (instead of the cola), and I added the liquid smoke.

For the Ribs -

2 racks spareribs (7lb total)
2 Tbsp each kosher salt, black pepper, brown sugar, and chili powder
1 Tbsp each paprika, dried oregano, and thyme leaves

For the Sauce -
1 cup diced onion
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 cup cider vinegar
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup cola
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp prepared yellow mustard
1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce
1/2 tsp liquid smoke

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Trim the skirt flap and excess fat from ribs; pull off membrane. Pierce the meat between bones, using a fork, then arrange on a baking sheet. Combine seasonings and generously rub both sides of racks. Tightly cover baking sheet with foil; roast ribs 2 hours.
3. Saute onion in oil in a saucepan over medium heat 3-4 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute.
4. De-glaze with vinegar and reduce by half, about 6 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients and simmer 10 minutes; season with salt.
5. Preheat grill to medium-high. Remove ribs from oven, coat with sauce, and grill, covered, until charred, 15 minutes, flipping and coating with sauce occasionally. Remove ribs from grill; rest 10 minutes. To cut, hold racks upright on a cutting board and slice between ribs.

Stir Fry on the Grill!

We LOVE shish-kabobs, but I hate the darn sticks! :-)
So, I bought myself a whopping $7 grill basket from Bed Bath and Beyond and decided to make my shish kabobs into a stir fry for the grill instead!
It turned out great!

Ingredients:
Meat
Veggies
Seasonings
Olive Oil

I know, that sounds dumb, but you can really use any combination of the above and make it according to your own family's likes. For us, I used chicken breasts, cheap steak, shrimp, onion, green pepper, mushrooms, and OF COURSE pineapple! Nothing better than pineapple cooked on the grill with all the veggies! It's a little touch of sweetness in an otherwise savory meal...awesome!

For our seasonings, I used Weber's Veggie Seasoning, Weber's Smokey Mesquite, Garlic Powder and Garlic Salt. A little Crushed Red Pepper would be awesome too, but my 5 year old doesn't like spicy AT ALL :-( Bummer!

Directions:
1. Cut up all the meat and veggies/pineapple into bite sized pieces and place in grill basket.
2. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle on some seasonings (again, as little or as much as you like) and mix around.
3. Place grill basket on grill, over high heat, and cook until meat is cooked through and veggies are tender. Mix with large, long handled metal spoon occasionally.

This is what it looked like before it was cooked, all in the grill basket! Totally worth the $7!

AWESOME Grilled Veggies

My step-father-in-law created this little recipe, or at least the idea.
We make these a lot in the summertime and they are so good! It's perfect with some grilled bbq chicken!

Ingredients:
4-6 potatoes
1 large onion, sliced into wedges
1 green pepper, sliced
1 cup green beans
olive oil
pepper
garlic powder
garlic salt
mesquite seasoning
***Time saver!!! - I use the Reynold's foil bags!!!! They make clean up and set up SUPER easy!

Directions:
1. You can omit this step, but if you have a rice cooker or a microwave cooker, it will reduce the grilling time by A LOT! This was an awesome tip I found somewhere! I peel and slice all of my potatoes and place them in my microwave rice cooker with a little water and cook them for about 5-10 minutes (I check them at about 5 minutes and add time accordingly) until they are just tender.
2. In the foil bag, dump the potatoes, onions, green peppers, and green beans. Pour a few tablespoons of olive oil on top. Sprinkle with seasonings. Fold up the top to lock in all the moisture while cooking.
3. Grill over high heat for about 15 minutes until everything is tender, turning over once in a while.