healthy laps

It sure felt like a summer day yesterday, so it was perfect weather for a BBQ!

We started with some homemade Hummus.  I used the recipe out of Clean Food Cookbook, Spring section.

It came out great!  I used extra lemon juice to make it more lemony.

Served with Mary’s crackers and sticks.

For the main course we made up some burgers, salad and grilled veggies.

I mixed up a jam-packed salad with lots of fresh veggies.

Green leaf lettuce with cucumbers, radishes, shredded carrots, dried apples and edamame.

I love my salads full of stuff, so this was perfect.

My favorite thing about BBQ’s in the summer is the grilled veggies.  They are always so fresh!

Baby Eggplant & Peppers drizzled with a little olive oil and balsamic.

We hit up Russo’s in Watertown for all of our produce.  It is so much cheaper than anywhere else.  Plus, I have a trick when I go there!  They have a whole section in the back with “damaged or older” produce as they call it.  Some of the stuff is bad, but others are just fine if you pick through it.  Apples may have a small dent in them, peppers may have one bad part or bananas may be a little overripe.  But, if you don’t mind cutting off the bad part, or using the produce within a day or two (I immediately cut up the bananas and freeze them for smoothies), it is so worth it!  Each pack that they make up is $0.98!!  I practically bought all of our produce for this dinner for under $10!  Normally a red or yellow pepper would run you $3.99 or $4.99 per pound.  I bought all 4 of my huge pepper for $0.98!  And, all of the baby eggplant for $0.98…and a pack of 12 radishes for $0.98.  It is definitely worth it.

We served regular burgers, but I also made up some Vegetarian Lentil Burgers for myself (recipe from 101cookbooks.com).

I followed the recipe exactly, but used green lentils in place of black because that is what I had on hand.

Mix up the cooked lentils and eggs.

Then, add the breadcrumbs and let sit for a few minutes to absorb the liquid from the lentils.

I made these into 9 patties about burger size and grilled them inside in case they fell apart.

Surprisingly, these stuck together great!  Better than any other veggie burgers I have made.  It must be the eggs.  They tasted great, but were a tad bit on the dry side.  Nothing some cheese and/or condiments can’t fix!

I think the meal was a big hit. 🙂

My plate, full of goodies.

It was a wonderful night to sit out on the porch.

Dessert was Pineapple Upside Down Cake made by Emily!

I can’t believe that this was my first time having this cake, I love pineapples and this was amazing!  Especially with a little vanilla bean ice cream.

What a perfect way to end a perfect weekend!

Filed under: Recipes | Tagged: BBQ, cake, hummus, salad, veggie burger |