It’s official. The heat is getting to me. The daily rain that has kept our evenings cool, has come to a screeching hault. Now it’s just hot. Luckily, the outside temp lowers to about 65-70 at night [outside – inside it’s still 83*], or I would literally be baking in an oven. Because of these warmer nights, I’ve been trying to come up with meals that don’t require too much oven or stove time.

The grill is good for that!

You may only think the grill is good for things like burgers + kebobs, but you can basically use your grill like an oven.

Grill-roasted chickpeas? Oh yes, it works fabulously.

Grill Roasted Chickpeas

1 can chickpeas, drained + rinsed
1T sunflower oil
1T chopped rosemary
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
salt + pepper

Preheat your grill to ~350*
Mix all ingredients together + spread evenly on the pan.
Grill-bake for about 25-35min, depending on how “done” you want your chickpeas. Stir every 8-10min.

I like them nice + crsipy!

Grilled kale chips? Why not?

Grill Roasted Kale Chips

1 head kale, de-stemmed, washed, + chopped
1/2T sunflower oil
salt + pepper

Toss ingredients together and spread evenly on a pan.
Place pan on the grill for about 25min. Stir once or twice.

I used a mix of curly kale + lacinato kale [dinosaur kale] and it worked perfectly. The lacinato kale produces a flat, crispy chip. The rest of dinner was prepared with minimal use of the gas range. Heat overdose avoided.

Tonight, our whole meal was made on the grill. This not only means the house doesn’t heat up as much, but it also means less dishes.

Potatoes + curry. Such a good combo.

I grilled the potatoes for about 25min and then added broccoli + tempeh. I let that all cook together for about 8 more minutes.

It was served on a bed of spinach, with fresh local tomatoes + a splash of coconut milk.

While it sounds delicious + looks pretty tasty, it was just okay. I’m out of onions and it definitely needed one! The curry I have right now is also a tad bitter, so a sprinkle of sugar would have helped as well.

Other spices in the mix: coriander + salt + pepper + garam masala + turmeric + garlic

Good, not great.

Time to chug another glass of ice cold water + get to bed. I’ll be back tomorrow with the latest on my workouts!

Any new grill ideas lately? I’m already out of peaches, but can’t wait to grill some up in the coming weeks!

Ashley

Just a few photos that haven’t made it on the blog lately, for one reason or another.

Wait, there is only one reason.

BUSY-NESS!!

Well, and none of these were worthy enough to call for their own blog post, but maybe all 3 together can do the trick?

First.

In case you were wondering.

My too gooey, doughy, failed vegan + GF baking project did not go to waste. For some reason, they were freakishly addicting. Right, Kelsey? Still not recipe worthy, but I’m workin’ on it!!

This was a blueberry cheese cake oat mix, topped with my cinnamon crunch almond butter, Love Grown Foods Granola, and the failed mini cakes.

What’s inside the oat mix?

1/4c oat bran
1/4c rolled oats
1c milk
3/4c water
1/3c 2% cottage cheese, stirred in at the end
1/2t vanilla, stirred in at the end
1t honey

If the thought of cottage cheese in oats freaks you out, try ricotta!! I haven’t yet, but I can 99.9% guarantee it would be outstanding.

Dinner last night? Completely delicious, but completely a repeat. Except that I cooked in some local, organic snap peas! Perfect in this Curried Chickpea with Coconut Quinoa dish.

Full of flavor + spice!

With a side of farm fresh kale chips! Ahh, so nice to have the farmers market back again!

Breakfast today? Man there are a lot of textures in this photo. Not my favorite photo, but definitely a breakfast worth mentioned. And yes, that is popcorn on top of the bowl. I popped some last night, topped it with cinnamon + sucanat + kept a little for breakfast. Good decision!

So what’s in this bowl?

popped amaranth
leftover coconut quinoa
almonds
cinnamon sugar popcorn
cinnamon crunch almond butter
Love Grown Foods granola
and…a SMOOTHIE!

Instead of pouring milk on top, I made a mini smoothie and poured that on. I don’t know what you would call this concoction, but it will be made again!