Spontaneous Grill Night

Sorry the blog has been so quiet the past few days! We had family in town for a few days, they left Easter morning. Friday night we decided to grill out. We don't have a grill at the apartment, but the complex pool has a lovely gas grill.

Brief rant: I know the charcoal vs gas grill is an eternal debate. After owning a charcoal grill for the last two years, I can honestly say I will never get one again. I can't ever light it, P has to do it every time, and adjusting the temp is such a pain. Maybe the flavor is better, but just get some grilling wood and grill on that! Slow roasting anything in the charcoal grill was impossible for us. Gas grill all the way! 

Anywho, we opted for Chicken and Shrimp Kebabs, Sweet Potatoes, and Asparagus. All grilled. For dessert, strawberries, whipped cream, and pound cake. Since this was last minute, I will admit I purchased the pound cake. 

This is one giant sweet potato. Whole Foods must have mutant sweet potatoes. For my grilled sweet potatoes, slice into fry-size strips (peeled), and place in aluminum foil tray or foil tray. Drizzle with 1-2 tablespoons olive oil and shake 1-2 tablespoons steak seasoning over them. I have used the McCormick Steak Seasoning, and the Paula Deen brand, and both were good. The reason I use steak seasoning is for a little extra kick. If you don't have any on hand, kosher salt, cracked pepper, and a touch of cayenne pepper also do the trick. It takes about 40 minutes to grill these guys, so we usually put them on first.

For the asparagus, place in a foil tray, drizzle with 1-2 tablespoons olive oil, and slice 1-2 cloves garlic to add to the pan. Salt and pepper to taste. These grill for about 20 minutes until tender.

For the kebabs, we assembled chicken and shrimp. I kept the seasoning plain, just salt and pepper.

And the veggies. Onion (sweet or red), mushrooms, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper.

Thread onto soaked bamboo (or metal) skewers.

Grill until done. By the time we got done grilling it was dark outside! As it turns out, the pool area doesn't have lights at night! oops!

For dessert, sliced strawberries in a bowl, add 1/4 cup sugar. Keep the strawberries a little wet after washing them to get a nice syrup.

Terrible picture because it was dark, but slice of pre-made pound cake, strawberries, whipped cream.

Not bad for a last minute meal for guests! Yum!