This post is sponsored by Northwest Grocers. The opinions and text are all mine.
It’s finally summer in Seattle! After a very dreary June, we finally got some sun and warm weather. And for our family, that means GRILLING.
We love grilling in our backyard, and in the summers, we invite people over as often as we can. Obviously, we would get pretty tired of eating hamburgers and hot dogs over and over. (Okay, fine, we may not get tired of it, but it would be not the greatest for our health.) This year, we’ve really expanded our grilling menu for more variety, and I thought I’d share some of our food ideas with you!
Where to Shop for Summer Entertaining in Seattle
Before we get started, I wanted to give a shoutout to Bert’s Red Apple in the Madison neighborhood of Seattle. We got all of our grilling and summer recipe ingredients there – they’re THE destination for all of our summer entertaining needs, and they make it as easy as 1-2-3 shop, buy save. I also really love that it’s a smaller, local grocer. It feels cozy, like everyone there is a family friend. And I don’t mind my kids wandering off a little, since I know they can’t get lost. My kids actually love walking through the aisles helping us find items from our grocery list. Plus, it’s walking distance from a really nice beach park!Better yet, Bert’s Red Apple is participating in a Summer Grilling & Entertaining sweepstakes running from August 3-30, 2022. If you’re interested, visit your closest participating store for more details or check out this link.
Unique Summer Grilling Menu
Now let’s get to the food! For today’s menu we have:
- Taylor Farm’s salad
- Grilled Yogurt Marinated Chicken
- Japanese Hawaiian Macaroni Salad
- Grilled Peaches with Chobani Zero Sugar Yogurt
Taylor Farm’s Salad
When you’re having people over, save time by using a packaged salad! This Caesar salad from Taylor Farm’s was great and convenient.
Grilled Yogurt Marinated Chicken
This chicken was SO GOOD. It tastes like you’ve spent hours sweating over a spit, but really you just let it marinate overnight and plop on the grill the next day.
Ingredients:
- 3 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 2 cups plain yogurt
- 1/2 cup olive oil (like this Pompeian Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- juice from 1 lemon
Method:
- Mix all ingredients (minus chicken) to form marinade.
- Thoroughly coat chicken thighs in yogurt marinade and leave in fridge overnight.
- The next day, grill on high heat for about about 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. We usually cook on indirect heat with the lid closed for the first 10 minutes, then open the lid for the last 10.
Japanese Hawaiian Macaroni Salad
As a fan of Hawaiian plate lunch, a grilled meat menu doesn’t feel complete without mac salad. Although there are plenty of Hawaiian mac salad recipes out there, they pretty much all agree on one thing: You NEED to use Best Foods Mayo. My recipe is sort of a fusion dish with Japanese mac salad in that it mixes in sesame sauce and sushi seasoning! Stay tuned for a more in depth recipe post later, but for now, here’s how you do it:
Ingredients:
- 1/2 bag of elbow macaroni
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup rice vinegar
- pinch of hon dashi powder
- 2 cups best food mayo
- 1/4 cup goma dare (sesame sauce)
- mix-ins of choice (e.g. cucumber, imitation flake crab, corn, edamame, green onions, etc.)
Method:
- Boil elbow macaroni 2 minutes more than instructed on the bag.
- Meanwhile, heat rice vinegar, sugar, and dashi on the stovetop until dry ingredients are dissolved.
- Drain cooked macaroni and pour vinegar mixture over it. Soak in vinegar mixture for 20 minutes or up to overnight in the fridge.
- When ready to toss your salad, chop your mix-ins into bite size pieces. Mix together mayonnaise and sesame sauce.
- Mix everything together and serve!
Grilled Peaches with Yogurt
For a unique grilled dessert, how about grilled peaches? Take ripe peaches and slice in half, removing the pit. Grill briefly, just long enough to get some char marks. Serve with Chobani Zero Sugar Vanilla Yogurt. It’s so refreshing!