I Was Inspired!
I've shared a bit last week about saving supper after being really unprepared. I mean...really. Supper happens every day. Was I surprise by that? Did I think yesterday was the last day anyone would need to prepare supper? I mean, it's like Christmas, right? It will be the 25th of December every year and supper will happen every day.
Then it happened!
I was scrolling through one of my social media feeds, which I have kept to a minimum lately. I mostly scroll to see what my friend, Deb has posted for wise comments that will have me laughing. But there it was. And by one of my favorite places no less. Right there in the middle of my scrolling it stopped me in my tracks. It was the answer to my "poorly planned supper" mishaps. It was the inspiration for my creativity.
Magnolia, you know...one of my happiest places, was advertising Volume 2 of the Magnolia Table Cookbook. They showed a photo of Joanna's Cajun Shrimp recipe. I have no idea what is in her recipe (mostly because Allan hasn't bought me the book for a gift yet... HINT. HINT.) but it had such a variety of fantastic food sprawled out that immediately I knew this was the answer to our late evening. Her photo showcased large yummy shrimp, corn on the cob cut into the small pieces, sausage,so much more and all topped with wonderful seasonings.
Immediately my mind started bouncing around with all of the things that I could add to my sprawl of food! The next day I headed to the grocery store and picked up chicken breast, sausages, a pre-seasoned roast, and veggies galore. I was all prepared but in my mind thought this would still take a half-day to pull it all off. Boy, was I wrong. After a bit of procrastinating, I decided that I would be more successful if I meal prepped in the morning. And so I did. I started prepping my grilling baskets that would become many meals!
I cut up the chicken in small pieces (and added some seasoning), cubed up the pre-seasoned roast, and sliced the sausage on an angle in about one inch pieces. I cut corn on the cob into about inch and a half pieces and tossed in carrots in a variety of colors to make it pretty (thank you Trader Joe's) onto a baking sheet. A little drizzle of avocado oil, a few dashes of pepper and a sprinkle of salt...and what ever else I pulled from the spice cupboard...and into a separate grilling pan they went. I had the meat and veggies on the grill at about 7:30 am. I would really love to know what my neighbors were thinking! Who has wonderful smelling food on their grill at SEVEN-THIRTY AM?
Here is where I should admit that I have not had much experience with the grill. That is hubby's department in our house. I set the burners to medium heat and hoped for the best and hoped it wouldn't take until 9:00 am to get done. I had no idea! Well, it seemed like just a few stirs and I was ready to add the last basket of ingredients to elevated rack in the grill. I cubed three large zucchinis and portobello mushrooms that were drizzled in oil and sprinkled lightly with salt and pepper. They cooked quite nicely raised a bit further above the heat. A few more tosses of the meat and the veggies and several meals were prepared at once!
At the time I took the photo I didn't have the onions and green peppers cooked because I ran out of room and they had to be cooked later. We downsized when we bought our last grill and are still regretting it. We do own many grilling pans, as you can see, and I was kind of thinking it was a waste. Not any longer! Four grilling pans and I had it done and all items were cooked for the correct amount of time. From here there are several options. I can make rice and serve the meat and veggies over rice. We can pick out the meat and veggies we want to eat since the pieces are all cut a bit larger. I can add a salad to the side for a well rounded meal. This has given me a few more ideas for quick summer meal prep so I'll share more on that next week.
Happy grilling and let me know if you like to do larger meal prep or having any grilling pan ideas. I'd love some more good inspiration!
Until next week...
Therese