The hot weather we have experienced the last few days has us eating lighter; however, that doesn’t mean we’re not using our grill. Instead of smoked ribs or hamburgers, we tried our hand at shrimp tacos and SkinnyGrape wine
Grilled Shrimp Tacos
It was actually the Weber’s Smoke cookbook that put the idea in my head but instead of the sauce in the recipe, we just prepared them with a little olive oil, sea salt and President Choice’s Mango and Lime Medium salsa and cooked them in our Weber Original Gourmet BBQ System Wok for about 5 minutes, until they started to brown. When they were ready, we switched out the wok to the Sear Grate and grilled the corn tortillas, making them plyable and adding grill marks.
Instead of just shredded lettuce, we added a mix of lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, and fresh cilantro to the grilled tortilla. We then layered on the shrimp and some sour cream, making sure to not over stuff the tortillas.
We grilled some red peppers to eat on the side. Cleaned and cut into quarters, the peppers are placed directly on the grill over medium heat until they are blackened. Remove from the grill and place in a paper bag. The steam will loosen the blackened skin, which you can just peel off then slice into bite-sized pieces. If you don’t have a paper bag, you can steam the peppers in a bowl covered in plastic wrap.
Mattel Dice Games
Games are a great way to spend time together while waiting for the barbecue, especially games that don’t require a lot of set-up or only have a few pieces. The dice games from Mattel are perfect. Not only do they come in small portable cans (easy for storage) but also they have a variety of games the kids love playing, like the Skip-Bo Dice Game. A simple number matching game, combined with quick reactions, Skip-Bo Dice Game is easy enough for my five-year old to play but entertaining enough for the older kids and even myself.
SkinnyGrape Pinot Grigio
I tend to be more of a beer drinker but some meals just go better with a glass of wine. Seafood dishes usually fall in this category for me, unless it’s battered fish and chips. With the shrimp tacos I had the opportunity to try SkinnyGrape Pinot Grigio. SkinnyGrape is a low calorie wine, with only 80 calories a glass so I expected a very weak tasting wine but I was pleasantly surprised. The Pinot Grigio from SkinnyGrape offered a nice light taste but not weak. I wouldn’t have guessed from enjoying a glass that the SkinnyGrape was a low calorie wine. Of course, it probably doesn’t help when you drink a bottle at dinner.
Barbequed Cinnamon Rolls
After great success making pizzas in our Weber grill I thought of other items we could bake on the grill, like bread and buns. Then it came to me – cinnamon buns. I found this great recipe for Cinnabon style cinnamon rolls from The Girl Who Ate Everything.
Although all the baking for these buns we did on our Weber grill, I did have to make the dough in the kitchen and in the morning as there are two stages you have to let the dough rise.
After we finished preparing our tacos for dinner, we placed the pan on the grill. I used a springform pan so I could pop the finished rolls out without a problem. With the lid on the grill, we baked the rolls for about 20 minutes while we ate dinner. We knew they were done when the top was brown and a toothpick came out clean. While still warm, I spread the cream cheese icing over the top.
These barbecue cinnamon buns were a delicious way to end our dinner and they made for a tasty treat at breakfast the next day. They also confirmed that our barbecue is great for cooking more than just burgers and sausages. What are you cooking on your grill this weekend?