BBQ Fare

Barbeque season has officially begun and I couldn’t be happier about it. My friend Matty had a Memorial Day BBQ last weekend and it was the perfect opportunity to make some awesome side dishes. My roommate Katie and I decided to make grilled balsamic vegetables and cold sesame noodles.

Sesame Noodles
This recipe is slightly adapted from the Uncommon Gourmet, an extremely reliable cookbook that my family has been using for a long, long time. I found that the noodles need a little more sauce than the recipe calls for and I added some sriracha for some spice. I also put in some snap peas for some color and crunch.

Ingredients
2 lbs. linguini
¾ c. sesame oil
¾ c. soy sauce
4 ½ tsp. sugar
¾ tsp. pepper
2 cloves of garlic, minced
¾ c. chopped scallions
4 tbsp. sesame seeds, toasted
Sriracha, to taste
1 c. snap peas


Directions
1. Cut the snap peas in half and very briefly blanch for about 30 seconds.
2. Combine the sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar, pepper, garlic, scallions, and sesame seeds in a large bowl.
3. Cook and drain the pasta.
4. Pour the hot pasta over the sauce and toss well. Add Sriracha to taste.
5. Refrigerate and add the snap peas.


Grilled Balsamic Vegetables
I make this balsamic vinaigrette fairly often for salads, so I thought it would be delicious if I brushed it on some vegetables and grilled them. Since the BBQ was at a friend’s house, we just grilled the veggies at home and ate them at room temperature at the BBQ.

Ingredients
2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. honey
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 small shallot, minced
½ tsp. dried oregano
¼ c. balsamic vinegar
¾ c. extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
Assorted vegetables – we used 2 small yellow squashes, 2 small zucchinis, 2 small eggplants, 2 portabella mushrooms, and a bunch of asparagus.


Directions
1. Combine the Dijon, honey, garlic, shallot, and oregano in a medium bowl.
2. Stir in the balsamic and then slowly whisk in the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.


3. Cut the vegetables into ¼- ½ inch slices and brush with the vinaigrette.
4. Grill on medium-high until the vegetables are cooked.

Note: We also had some leftover watermelon that needed using, so we threw it on the grill and added it to our platter.


Both sides were huge hits; at first, we thought that we had brought too much food, but everything got devoured!