All Fired Up Great meals to take on the trail

By Julie St. Jean

THERE IS NOTHING MORE pleasing than the smell of flamecooked foods. Fortunately, cooking over an open fire can take place in the backyard, alongside a freshly paddled river, or wherever your next great outdoor adventure takes you.

Nowadays our adventures are not limited to the outdoors. Our tastes for food have also become adventurous. With this in marinate the chicken while frozen. In that case, threading it onto the skewers mind, I have put together a light menu that is elegant enough to would have to be done just before cooking. serve to dinner guests, and that travels well. Tonight we are Wild Mushroom Couscous: having rosemary chicken skewers, wild mushroom couscous, 400 grams (about 2 cups) couscous grilled asparagus and corn on the cob, with grilled Greek-style 500 ml (2 cups) salted boiling water or stock pita with cumin. 200 grams (about 1 cup) of dried mushrooms

As the saying goes, “good beginnings lead to great endings.” 4 scallions, thinly sliced on the diagonal With a BBQ, it almost always starts with the marinade. A handful of fresh cilantro leaves A marinade serves many purposes. It is a liquid used to flavour, Bring water or stock and dried mushrooms to a boil. Turn off the heat and let preserve, tenderize and moisten dry foods. We are using a the mushrooms sit until softened, about five minutes. Bring water/mushroom versatile recipe that goes well with vegetables, tofu, meats and mixture back to a boil. Quickly pour over couscous. Let sit uncovered in a bowl. fish. This same marinade is going to be used to enhance the After three to five minutes, fluff with a fork to loosen grains and to release the flavour of the mushroom couscous. Couscous is typically made steam. If you do not fluff with a fork, it will stick together and become mushy. from semolina. It is dried and much like finely Continue to fluff until all water is absorbed. Drizzle with the remaining cracked spaghetti. It is traditionally found soaking up a marinade and toss with scallions and cilantro. An optional cooking method is to Moroccan tajine, but it more recently made its debut as a base simply add the couscous to the pot of boiling water and remove from the heat. ingredient for salads. It also makes a light alternative side dish. Fluff with a fork as suggested above. Sun-dried tomatoes can be substituted for Couscous is simple to prepare and expands to about three times the mushrooms. They also travel well. I would be inclined to add diced feta its volume, making it an ideal item to carry in a travel pack. cheese with the tomatoes. Marinade: Grilled Asparagus and Corn on the Cob:

Serves 4 Snap off the hard ends of the asparagus. Shuck the corn and wrap it individually 60 ml (1/4 cup) fresh lemon juice in tin foil with a little butter and salt. A squeeze of fresh lime juice and hot red 60 ml (1/4 cup) soy sauce pepper flakes add a nice flavour. These can be prepared ahead of time and will 3 cloves minced garlic also travel well. 125 ml (1/2 cup) of grapeseed or olive oil Now you are ready to grill. Preheat the BBQ. Put the corn on Combine all ingredients. the grill first. It will take 15-20 minutes on high. Turn it every Rosemary Chicken Skewers: five minutes. It will blacken. Grill the rosemary skewers about 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts four minutes on each side. Next, grill the asparagus about one 8 fresh rosemary stems minute per side, depending on the thickness of the spears. You Look for hearty stems that are at least four inches long and strong enough to just want to mark the asparagus. Season it with salt. Then lightly hold the chicken. Remove the leaves from the stems. Cut the chicken breasts brush the Greek-style pita with olive oil and grill, again just to into 2.5 centimetre (one inch) cubes and thread them onto the rosemary stems. leave grill marks. Remove from heat and sprinkle with ground Pour half of the marinade onto the skewers in a shallow pan (or in a sealed zip cumin and salt. I suggest Greek-style pita because of its texture. lock bag if you’re taking it out on a trip). You may want to substitute tofu for It is doughier and doesn’t have a pocket. It absorbs the oil nicely the chicken if proper cold storage is not available to you. You could also and the smell of it on the grill is unforgettable.