Pepper & Feta parcels

I made those filled peppers for a BBQ we had yesterday. This was the first time I tried something different from a fresh salad to accompany the meat and I have to say that although the prepping to a bit longer than the usual tomato-cucumber-lettuce salad the result was really worth the extra effort. Although I know BBQs tend to always be about meat (and lots of it) I think it is equally important to offer something nice to go with all the meat that tastes nice both with meat and without it (this is really important if you have vegetarian friends).

After flicking through all the recipes I have under side dishes I came down to either this one or a more simple feta and tomato parcels. I know this will sound a bit too simplistic but I picked this one because it looked a lot more colourful than the other one - and they say that it is important to keep you vegetables colourful in order to get all the necessary vitamins. And to be fair, something nice and colourful looks really nice next to some BBQ meat.

All in all, these take around 15 minutes to prepare, but they are so worth the effort. I received compliments for those parcels from both my vegetarian friend as well as the meat eaters, so they must be good. So next time when you have a BBQ (or for the very first BBQ of the season which I know are coming up as soon as the snow melts and temperature becomes bearable) instead of serving a fresh green salad surprise your guests with those delicious vitamin filled parcels - trust me, they'll be a big hit with all the guests and you might even have to share the recipe afterwards :)

Ingredients
(Serves 8 - approximately 142 cal per serving)
- 1/2 red onion
- 4 baby courgettes, halved and sliced
- 16 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 16 black olives
- 2 tbsp shredded basil
- Olive oil
- 4 red peppers, halved and seeds removed
- Salt
- Pepper

Directions
In a bowl, mix the chopped onion, courgette, tomatoes and olives. Crumble over the feta and add the basil. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Divide the filling up between pepper halves. Cook them on a barbecue or in a hot oven until the vegetables are tender.

Recipe from BBC Goodfood

BBQ honey & mustard chicken kebabs

Few days ago I visited my parents in Estonia. As the weather was nice, and my dad was home, I took the unilateral decision that we have to have a barbecue and as I am still fascinated about the mustard and honey combination I felt it was my job to get other people hooked on it as well (in which I succeeded). As it was really hot outside, having something heavy was out of question and chicken kebabs, marinated in my favourite sauce, with vegetables and pineapple sounded like the perfect choice. I served the kebabs with a leafy green salad, which goes really well with the sweet and mustardy chicken. So, when looking for something light and summery, this is the recipe to go for.

Ingredients
(Makes 7 kebabs)
- 4 chicken breast fillets, chopped
- 1/2 pineapple, cut into pieces
- 1 small red pepper, cut into pieces
- 1 small yellow pepper, cut into pieces
- 1 onion, cut into pieces
- 4 tbsp honey
- 4 tsp Dijon mustard
- 7 bamboo kebab skewers

Directions
Mix honey and mustard in a bowl until nicely combined. Chop up the chicken breasts into decent sized chunks and place in the same bowl and mix until the chicken is evenly covered with the mixture. Let it marinate for few hours. In the meantime, chop up the rest of the ingredients and 30 before starting grilling soak the bamboo skewers in water to prevent them from burning. When 30 minutes is up, place the ingredients the skewers and then grill on a barbecue, in a foil tray to prevent the chicken from burning, until the chicken is cooked (make sure you don't overcook it as it turns very dry). Serve and enjoy immediately.