Easter Weekend Mixed Grill

It was another orphan holiday for i♥toeat and friends this Easter weekend. Don’t cry, we made the most of it with booze, a mixed grill, and hockey – Go Canucks!

I contributed Rosemary & Garlic Roasted Potatoes. Simple enough I’m sure you can all figure out the recipe. I added lemon juice while they marinated and a little squeeze after they came out of the oven, yum!

TheGlutenFreeDom made a Greek salad, so delicious, so fresh! Much better than any store-bought version. We decided the key to great Greek salad is FRESH FETA and big fat juicy olives.

Last but certainly not least came the mixed grill, provided and cooked by Mr. Phil. What a great idea! We had a juicy steak, spicy SouthWest style chicken and my favourite, Maui Ribs. All the items came pre-seasoned/marinated (except the steak) so we can’t take credit for it but everything was delicious. Way to go Hamilton Beach Grill for turning another basement suit BBQ adventure into a success! Just goes to show you don’t need a fancy grill to get the job done … although if anyone wants to buy me a BBQ this summer I won’t protest!

Holy CRAP look at that steak! Aren't you jealous!?

Oh ya, and there was strawberries.

Here Comes the Sun, and Couscous Salad

Couscouse salad with cucumber, tomato, red beans and cilantro

I spent a beautiful afternoon with my cousin today; we went to a hatha yoga class at her studio, then back to her’s for afternoon tea. Had I been thinking ahead I would have brought a camera to take pictures of the delicious lunch she made: turkey soup with a plate of fresh baby tomatoes, cucumber and cheese, followed by a slice of her carrot cake. I haven’t been to yoga in a couple of months and getting back on the mat felt great, especially with the positive energy exuded by my cousin. She sees the beauty and love life  has to offer us even in our hardships and inspired me to come back and create beauty in my life. Of course this meant a meal!

Whilst yogaing, our teacher played “Here comes the Sun” by the Beatles, and it couldn’t have been more of an appropriate song for the day and our moods. I encourage you to put it on while reading, I’m listening as I type, and even provided a link.

I came home and made couscous salad, something I can enjoy for the next couple of days and bring over to my Mom to show her that I can make healthy meals. To cook the couscous I brought to a boil:

1 cup water
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp butter (or olive oil)

** These were the ingredients on the couscous package, but I found 1/4 tsp of salt was too salty. I made another batch to dilute it, this time I left out the salt and substituted butter for olive oil. There really wasn’t much of a different flavour wise.

uncooked couscous

When the water boiled I added the couscous, stirred, removed the pot from the heat, covered, and let stand for 3-5 minutes. When the couscous was cooked I fluffed it with a fork to separate the grains.

In a large bowl I added diced cucumber and tomatoes to the couscous. Couscous salad traditionally calls for parsley but I had coriander on hand so I finely chopped that up too. For a dressing I mixed together:

2 minced garlic cloves
3 tbsp olive oil
5 tbsp lemon juice
A splash of vinegar (not sure exactly how much I used, maybe 2/3 a cap full? I go by taste)
Salt and pepper to taste
I also added a couple scoops of red beans for fiber.

Couscous salad with olive oil and lemon garlic dressing

 

Garlic Humus with Spicy Thai Chili

Spicy garlic and Thai cili humus

Mmm, Mmm, Humus! A staple in our fridge, im getting closer to mastering my recipe. My boyfriend loves spicy food so I diced up a whole Thai chili, it was really spicy! I don’t have a food processor so I boiled the chickpeas to soften them, then mashed them with a potato masher while adding water and olive oil to create the consistency I wanted. 20 minutes in I remember the magic bullet and tossed the mixture in with a bit of water et…voila! Creamy humus, the first time I made it without clumps!

 

The Recipe:

1 can chickpeas

2 cloves minced garlic

2 tbsp olive oil

2  1/2 tbsp lemon juice

1 Thai chili finely diced

Salt and pepper to taste

I steadily added water while mashing the chickpeas to get a creamy texture. I still think my recipe is missing something… maybe onion powder? Or canola oil instead of olive oil… I’ll have to keep working on it. Suggestions?