Father's Day Weekend

Ideas to get the party started

Grilled Garlic Herb Buttered Corn

Corn with garlic herb butter and roasted on grill pan. The corn takes 15 mintues to make and SO good!!
Ingredients:

• 3 ears corn
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp parsley leaves, minced or 1/2 tsp. dried parsley 
• 1 TB.honey
• dash of smoked paprika
• 3 TB. butter, salted

Directions:

• Soften butter and add in rest of ingredients.  Let sit at room temperature until grilling.
• Grill corn and spread mixture on each ear of corn.

Roasted Asparagus Salad
recipe from myrecipes.com
Ingredients:

• 1- 1/2 pounds fresh asparagus
• 1/2 cup olive oil or lemon, herb olive oil, divided
• 1- 1/2 TB. chopped fresh basil, divided
• 1/2 tsp. lemon pepper
• 1/2 tsp. salt, divided
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes (about 1/2 pt.)
• 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
• 1 head Bibb lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces or Romaine
• 1 avocado, sliced

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425°. Snap off and discard tough ends of asparagus; remove scales with a vegetable peeler, if desired.
• Stir together 1 TB. olive oil, 1 1/2 tsp. chopped basil, 1/2 tsp. lemon pepper, and 1/4 tsp. salt in a large bowl.
• Add asparagus to olive oil mixture, and toss gently to coat. Place asparagus on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. 
• Bake asparagus at 425° for 13 to 15 minutes or to desired degree of tenderness. Cool 10 minutes.
• Whisk together balsamic vinegar, garlic, and remaining 7 TB. olive oil, 1 TB. basil, and 1/4 tsp. salt.

Strawberry Shortcake Kebobs

Cook's notes:The concept is simple and can be tailored a myriad of ways. Start with a pan of baked and cooled shortcake or angel food cake. Choose a few other kebob-worthy items, such as juicy red strawberries, blueberries, pineapples chunks, etc – the sky is the limit here, thread the shortcake cubes and fruit onto the skewers, drizzle with white chocolate sauce and……And you’re all done!
Ingredients:

• 2 boxes strawberries
• 1 box of white cake mix or 
• 3/4 cup of Greek vanilla yogurt
• 2 egg whites
• 1 1/3 cups of water
• 1 bag of white chocolate chips
• Skewers

Directions:

• Combine the cake mix, Greek yogurt, egg whites and water in a bowl.
• Mix until smooth and pour into a greased cake pan or dish. (9 x 13)
• Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes until toothpick comes out clean or according to directions on the box.
• Cut stems off of strawberries and halve them if need to in order to create uniform sizes.
• Cut shortcake into 2-inch cubes.
• Take skewer and alternate strawberries and shortcake cubes. (I like to do three or four of each per stick).
• In a glass bowl melt chocolate in the microwave for about two minutes stirring every every 30 seconds.
• Once fully melted, insert it into a large plastic bag and cut off the corner tip.
•  Drizzle all over kebobs and place in fridge to set.
  

Grilled Pork Chops with Balsamic Raspberry Chipotle BBQ Sauce!

Recipe serves 4 from closetcooking.com Ribs can be substituted for the pork chops.
Ingredients:
RASPBERRY BALSAMIC CHIPOTLE BBQ SAUCE:

• 2 cups raspberries fresh (or thawed frozen)
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 2 TB. raspberry preserves/jam
• 2 TB. honey
• 2 TB. white balsamic vinegar
• 1 TB. soy sauce (or tamari for gluten-free)
• 1+ chipotle chili in adobo, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard

FOR THE GRILLED PORK CHOPS:

• 1 pound pork chops
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
FOR THE RASPBERRY BALSAMIC CHIPOTLE BBQ SAUCE:
Puree everything in a food processor or blender and optionally strain to remove the raspberry seeds.
FOR THE GRILLED PORK CHOPS:
Heat the grill or a grill pan to medium-high heat, season the pork chops with salt and pepper to taste, place them on the grill and cook until lightly golden brown on one side, about 5-8 minutes, flip them and cook until the pork chops are done, about 5-8 minutes, before basting in the BBQ sauce and enjoying them! Cooking time varies depending on the thickness of the pork chops.
Option: Add 1 teaspoon liquid smoke to the BBQ sauce.