[BBQ Recipe] Barbequed Courgette and Bulgur Wheat Salad

Barbequed Courgette and Bulgur Wheat Salad

It can be really difficult to watch your weight when heading to a BBQ with friends and family. There will be a mountain of meat, some sumptuous fish, and if you’re lucky the odd veggie kebab on the BBQ too. The table of sides often isn’t much better with mayonnaise laden potato salads, coleslaw swimming in yet more mayonnaise and sugary condiments.

My Mum and I are often the bringers of “green salad” to these kind of events but the limp lettuce tends to get pushed around the plate. One leaf might make its way into a burger bun if its lucky.

With that in mind I’ve started making a conscious effort to serve up more exciting salads when cooking up a storm around a BBQ.

Before I thought if people weren’t willing to eat a simple green salad, why would they be willing to try a cous-cous or bulgur wheat one? I won’t lie to you, I have had mixed success in this regard. My Nan and Grandad simply won’t touch the stuff, but it turns out the rest of my family are much more willing to try new things.

With that in mind here’s one of my favourites. It’s a warm salad with the courgette grilled and served over the fluffy bed of bulgur wheat at the last minute. This gives it a bit of theatre and people feel like they’re not betraying the BBQ!

[BBQ Recipe] Char grilled Tuna Steak

Char grilled Tuna Steak

Last week we were fortunate enough to have blue skies all of Sunday. Dad was out in the garden, Mum was sunning herself on a beach somewhere off the south coast and I was revising. BUT, we still managed to find time to have a BBQ that evening.

On Sunday I shared with you my Summer Sizzling Prawns, an incredibly simple way of livening up seafood before popping on the BBQ. Today I’m sharing yet another BBQ fish dish (can you see a theme here?)

Tuna steaks have been a favourite of mine for a while now. Around the age of 16 I started going off the giant mound of blackened burgers and sausages that would invariably be served up at any family BBQ. I’d become more conscious about my weight and quite frankly was bored of the same old processed rubbish. Seafood came to the rescue as I soon realised that you could have fresh, healthy, non-processed food on the BBQ too!

You shall have a fishy on a little dishy...

Nowadays I’ll be the person who rocks up to the BBQ with vegetable kebabs, corn on the ob and some sort of fish to stick on the Barbie. Today it was tuna.

Tuna is so delicious cooked on the BBQ that sometimes I like to simply give it a few mins either side, and serve alongside a salad with a squeeze of lemon. This time, I decided to jazz it up a bit.

[BBQ Recipe] Sizzling Summer Prawns

Sizzling on the BBQ

Today I got way, way, WAY too excited. For the most part of the day I had been shut away in my little study revising for my upcoming exams. My Mum has gone away for a long weekend (by which I mean 5 whole days) to sun herself by the sea with her two best friends, which left my Dad and I to our own devices.

After being cooped up all day I wanted to get out and enjoying the sunshine and before I knew it I’d inadvertently convinced my Dad to whack on the BBQ.

As soon as he said yes I instantly perked up. We’re having a BBQ! That means one thing and one thing only – COOKING!

I rummaged through our fridge and found various goodies – loads of salad, king prawns and paneer. Not to mention bulgur wheat, chillies and lemons and limes lounging around. We just needed a few little extras so I sent Mr KG and my Dad off to the shops to grab them before they closed for the day.

Garlic, lime, chilli, ginger, coriander and prawns

Without a doubt I got carried away. I was trying to think up fresh, tasty and healthy dishes – and I did just that! The problem was I came up with too many. But, you can’t help but over indulge at a BBQ so we sat outside on the patio just the three of us and enjoyed the goodies I’d cooked up.