Easy and Delicious Cookout Menu

It's rare that I hit one out of the park when I cook a meal so when I do, I have to share it with you guys!

Saturday was a beautiful spring day and we were planning to use the grill and eat outside.  I normally opt for burgers but that gets old after a while, so I tried something new.

We went with the following menu and it was so delish that I will be repeating it on Memorial Day weekend when we have friends over.

Easy and Delicious Cookout Menu:

Grilled Chicken Kabobs
Mexican Street Corn
Grilled Avocados

The only thing I plan to add when we have friends over is a big dish of baked beans.  (I use my mom's recipe for those and they are so good!)

The recipe I used for the kabobs can be found here. However, I modified the recipe and this is my version:

Grilled Chicken Kabobs

Ingredients

• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 3 teaspoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2-3 slices raw bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 cup of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce

Directions

1. Trim excess fat from chicken and cut the chicken into 1-inch cubes. In a large bowl, toss the chicken with the salt. Then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour.
2. Turn all grill burners to high, close lid, and heat for about 15 minutes.Turn all burners off except for the main burner.
3. Combine  paprika and sugar. Place the raw bacon in a food processor and pulse for about 45 seconds, until a smooth paste forms, scraping down the sides of the bowl a couple of times.Add the bacon paste and spice mixture to the chicken. Mix with hands or spatula until the ingredients are blended and chicken is coated. It's a little gloppy and hard to coat, but don't worry it will still taste great even if you can't get it all covered.
4. Thread the chicken onto the skewers.Spray cooking spray on grill.
5. Grill the chicken over the main burner with lid closed, turning one-quarter of a turn every 2 minutes. 
6. Brush the top of kebabs with BBQ sauce; flip and cook until sauce is browned,about 1 minute. Brush second side with sauce; flip and cook for another minute or so, until cooked through.
7. Remove kebabs from grill and let rest for 5 minutes. Serve with remaining BBQ sauce separately, if desired.

When we were on our honeymoon in Cancun we had Mexican Street Corn.  It was so yummy and I have to say, this recipe comes really close to what we had.  I used the recipe found here. The original recipe calls for grilling the corn but I just boiled mine.

Mexican Street Corn

Ingredients

• 5 ears fresh corn, husked
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 2 Tablespoons sour cream
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
• Juice from one lime
• 1/4 cup grated Cotija cheese or grated Queso Fresco
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika (or chili powder if you want heat)
• Chopped cilantro, for garnish (optional)

Directions

1. Cook corn in boiling water for about 20 minutes or until tender.
2. Mix mayo, sour cream, garlic salt and lime juice in a small bowl.
3. Mix cheese and paprika in another small bowl.  
4. As soon as the corn is cooked, spread mayo mixture all over corn and then sprinkle with the cheese mixture.
5. Garnish with cilantro if desired.
6. Serve immediately.

And finally, grilled avocados!  I saw this recipe somewhere on Pinterest but didn't pin it.  It's super easy though so here it is from memory:

Grilled Avocados

Ingredients

• 3 avocados, halved with pit removed
• lime juice
• olive oil
• salt
• salsa or pico de gallo

Directions

1. Brush each avocado half with lemon juice and olive oil.  
2. Sprinkle with salt
3. Put flesh side down on the grill and cook for about 5 minutes or so.  You want it cooked through with grill marks but you don't want it too mushy.
4. Place a big spoonful of your favorite salsa right in the center of the avocado

And with that, go forth and have an easy and delicious cookout this weekend!