3 Recipes For A Wonderful Weekend Cookout

Salut! This past July 4th I created a delicious menu, almost by accident. I knew we would start with breakfast on the grill, and we planned on grilled chicken for dinner. I had seen a recipe for blueberry barbeque sauce, and it inspired me to make a black raspberry barbeque sauce, using our giant haul of hand picked black raspberries from the beautiful, local Dillon Fruit Farm. Since we will already have potatoes in the grilled breakfast, I thought a festive pasta salad would be perfect with the grilled chicken. And it was! Everything turned out so delicious, I had to share the recipes with you. We will be repeating this menu on Bastille Day or as the French say, Quatorze Juillet. Here are 3 recipes for a wonderful weekend cookout, bonne fête! 

recipes for a wonderful weekend

Start your holiday weekend with this festive breakfast! For as long as I can remember Mark has been making breakfast on the grill for each summer holiday, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, and sometimes we do it just because. It’s always fun and so tasty. This July 4th’s was one of the most mouthwatering ever! Husband wrote down the ingredients and a guesstimate of the amounts, and I’ve put it together in a new recipe for you.

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5 from 1 vote

Holiday Breakfast on the Grill

Always fun, always delicious, this grilled breakfast will be your new summer staple! If you don't have a grill, you could easily bake it in the oven, adding the eggs and cheese at the very end. Feeling free to use your own combination of vegetables, but this particular version is particularly mouthwatering.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time25 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast, Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: breakfast grill, cookout, festive, weekend

Servings: 4

Calories: 350kcal

Ingredients

• 7 baby potatoes tri-color medley
• 1 cup red and/or yellow bell pepper sliced
• 5 cherry tomatoes or other small tomato
• ½ cup onion larger "chunks"
• ½ jalapeno pepper sliced
• 2 links hot Italian turkey sausages sliced into chuns
• dried rosemary, sage, thyme, garlic powder season to your taste
• 5 leaves fresh basil
• salt, pepper
• truffle oil or olive oil
• 4 eggs, organic Happy Eggs are beautiful!
• 1 cup gruyere shredded
• ½ cup mozzarella shredded

Instructions

• Cook the potatoes: Place potatoes In a medium saucepan and cover with water. Bring to boil and cook until almost fully cooked, 5-7 minutes. Drain, cool slightly and slice potatoes into halves.
• While potatoes are boiling, prep vegetables.
• Line a sheet pan or large platter with foil. Alternately, if you have a griddle plate for your grill, use that, no need for foil. Add potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, onion, jalapeno pepper, turkey sausage, herbs, basil. salt and pepper to pan. Top with a drizzle of truffle or olive oil.
• Transfer veggie sausage mix to preheated grill. Grill with lid closed until everything is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Add eggs evenly over top. Top with shredded cheeses. Cook 2-3 minutes more with lid closed until eggs are cooked but still yolky. Remove from grill and plate. Enjoy!

weekend cookout pasta salad

This came together easily with ingredients I already had on had. Although I’ve said this Perfect Creamy Rotini Salad was the best, this pasta salad was so good husband requested a second batch for the weekend. I wanted to give it a red, white & blue feel, so I used red peppers and thinly sliced and chopped purple cabbage. Festive, creamy and so good, this perfect pasta salad is a must for any cookout!

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5 from 1 vote

Festive Pasta Salad

This pasta salad is simply perfect. It's so good, and easy, I made it twice in one week. Red bell peppers and purple cabbage make it so festive and the Cavatappi pasta, shredded gruyere and Dijon make it feel almost fancy. Colorful, creamy and addicting, it's a must add to your summer salad list.

Prep Time13 minutes mins

Cook Time7 minutes mins

Total Time20 minutes mins

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Keyword: easy, festive, pasta salad

Servings: 8 servings

Calories: 295kcal

Ingredients

• 8 oz Cavatappi pasta (or your favorite pasta shape) Highly recommend DeCecco Cavatappi – so good!
• 1 cup red bell pepper chopped
• 1 cup purple(red) cabbage sliced thinly then chopped
• 2 green onions chopped
• 5 large cherry tomatoes quartered
• 2 splashes extra virgin olive oil
• ¾ cup olive oil mayonaisse or Vegenaise
• 1-2 tbsp Dijon depending on how tangy you want it
• 1 cup gruyere shredded
• 1 tbsp Parmesan grated
• salt & pepper

Instructions

• In a medium saucepan, boil pasta according to package directions, to al dente, don't over cook. Drain and cool.
• While pasta is cooking, mix mayonnaise and Dijon together in a small bowl. Add a few grinds each of salt and pepper.
• Add pasta to large mixing bowl. Add peppers, cabbage, onion and tomatoes. Add a splash of olive oil and mix together. Add mayo mixture to pasta and stir to combine. Stir in gruyere and parmesan and another splash of olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste.

Notes

Nutrition:

Calories  295     Protein  9 g     Carbs  23 g     Fat  19 g     Fiber 2 g

wonderful barbecue chicken

Black raspberries are my favorite thing ever. So a black raspberry barbeque sauce is a no-brainer for me! This is inspired by a Blueberry Barbecue Chicken recipe I saw on Saveur. I’ve swapped the blueberries for black raspberries, added smoked paprika for smokiness and some fresh thyme. Sorry no pics, I’ll try to get some the next time we make it. This isn’t your typical barbecue chicken, it’s magical.

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5 from 1 vote

Raspberry Barbecue Chicken

This chicken is so festive, juicy and delicious. Black raspberries are my jam, but if you can't find them, use a combination of red raspberries and blackberries. This is a magical barbecue sauce you will want to make again and again.

Prep Time1 hour hr

Cook Time40 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 40 minutes mins

Course: dinner, Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: barbecue, grilled chicken, raspberry, summer

Servings: 5 servings

Calories: 443kcal

Ingredients

• 2 cups black raspberries or 1 cup each of red raspberries & blackberries
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• ¾ cup sugar
• ½ tsp red chili pepper flakes
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp thyme
• 1 whole organic chicken spatchcocked or pieces
• salt and pepper

Instructions

• For the sauce: Add berries and 2 T. vinegar to a food processer and pulse until smooth.
• Transfer berry mixture to a medium saucepan and add sugar, vinegar, chili flakes, paprika, cinnamon and thyme. Cook on low heat, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.
• Remove pan from heat. Using an immersion blender, blend until smooth. Alternately, carefully place in blender and blend. Return pan to medium low heat and cook an additional 30 minutes or until sauce has slightly reduced. Set sauce aside for at least one hour to cool. If making ahead, keep in the refrigerator overnight. Set aside ½ cup barbecue sauce to add at the table.
• Preheat grill to 350℉.
• While grill is preheating, place chicken on a tray/baking sheet and bring to room temperature. Salt and pepper both sides.
• Place chicken on grill. Close lid and cook 10 minutes. Flip chicken and cook with lid closed another 10 minutes. Flip chicken again and baste. Continue cooking, basting every 5 minutes for 15 minutes or until chicken is 165℉.
• Remove chicken from grill and baste one more time. If using spatchcock chicken, set it aside to rest 10 minutes before carving. Serve with the sauce you have set aside.

Notes

Nutrition:

Calories  443     Protein  34 g     Carbs  33 g     Fat  16 g

We will be keeping these 3 recipes for a wonderful weekend cookout on heavy rotation chez Barton. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do. Santé et bonne fête!