On the evening of July 6, 2011 five of the gourmet girls enjoyed a wonderful BBQ together at Lara's new place. We were scheduled to dine at Andrea's but due to sick children, we improvised. Lara was gracious enough to offer her home at the last minute and I had time to throw together a marinade for some meat I had recently tried. The recipe is out of Our Best Bites, my new favorite cookbook, which I now cook out of several times per week!
We started off the evening with a delicious appetizer by Lara, Asparagus Tart. LS surprised us with two salads, Cherry, Mango & Avocado Green Salad AND Potato and Feta Salad. She also brought some yummy watermelon! Jodi favored us with our "side" of Mango Quinoa Salad, found on the Best Bites blog (but not in the cookbook). Our main was Orange Tai Beef Skewers and we enjoyed dipping Herb-Rosemary Focaccia Loaves in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. We finished off the night with a delicious American Flag Tart by Raquel.
The Ladies!
Asparagus Tart
1 piece of Puff Pastry (store bought is fine)
1/2 cup Swiss cheese, shredded
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
1 bundle skinny asparagus
1 T olive oil
sea salt
crushed black pepper
Thaw the puff pastry either by placing it in the fridge overnight or by laying it on the counter, on a piece of parchment paper for about an hour. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Trim the ends of the asparagus by 1 inch to get rid of the woody stalk. Once thawed, unfold the flaps and slightly roll out the dough to get rid of the seams. Transfer the puff pastry dough while still on the parchment paper to a baking sheet. Sprinkle half the Swiss and Parmesan on the puff pastry. Line the asparagus on top of the cheese. Scatter the rest of the cheese on top of the asparagus and drizzle with the olive oil. Bake for 20 minutes until the pastry dough as puffed and the asparagus is roasted and cooked through. Sprinkle with salt and cracked pepper before serving.
Cherry, Mango and Avocado Green Salad
8 cups mixed salad greens, divided
1 ripe mango, peeled and chopped
1 small, ripe avocado, chopped
1/2 cup pitted, sliced Stemilt cherries
1/4 cup of sliced almonds
Minted Honey Vinaigrette
In a small jar, combine about 1/4 cup red wine vinaigrette, a very finely-chopped clove of garlic, the zest and juice of a lemon, a finely-chopped sprig each of fresh parsley and fresh mint, and a tablespoon of honey. Add salt and ground black pepper to taste and about 1/4 cup sunflower oil. Close the jar, and shake it up.
Potato and Feta Salad
Boil about 10 red potatoes and cool
1/2 cup basil and 1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped
OR 1/2 cup mint, finely chopped
3/4 cup feta
3/4 cup pitted Kalmata olives
1/2 cup olive oil
2 Tablespoons course sea salt
1 Tablespoon course black pepper
Juice of 2 lemons
Click on the link about for step-by-step instructions on the Our Best Bites blog, or find on page 121 in your cookbook. I made these a few weeks ago using flank steak, and I thought they were a little tough, so I bought tri-tip this time and they were delicious!
The cookbook suggests serving these with Sweet and Savory Coconut Rice. Although we didn't serve this on the evening of July 6th, I thought I would put in a plug and a picture here. It's delicious! A great summer rice to have with a BBQ. It's nice and creamy, but not too overwhelming of a coconut taste.
Another fantastic recipe from Our Best Bites. If you have the cookbook, it's listed as "Herb-Rosemary Focaccia Loaves" and is on page 36. I've also included the link to their blog. Dip in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, with a little sea salt and freshly ground pepper. We just tore pieces off of the loaf "Macaroni Grill Style", but I suppose you could cut it. My loaves actually looked pretty similar to the picture on the Best Bites blog, but I forgot to take a picture until the 2nd loaf was half-eaten, so this was my best effort of a picture at this point! I've made it twice more since this night and it has been a hit every time! Last time I doubled the batch for my family of 7 adults and 2 bread-eating children and there was plenty.
Can't have a summer BBQ without watermelon! Thanks LS!
The perfect July desert and it tasted every bit as good as it looks! YUM!
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