grilled veggie packets

so, can we talk about how awesome grilling is for a minute? i mean, we grilled a lot at my parents, but i never really did the grilling or the cleaning up (i was a spoiled little girl).

my sister and her hubs were awesome enough to give us their little propane grill. it's circular, small, lightweight and perfect for our bee-infested "patio." (we have a major infestation of carpenter bees.) after our yummy meal, i was super excited with no pots and pans to clean, no baked-on casserole dish and no hot-from-the-oven kitchen.

so, we cleaned up the grill, i got the propane tank filled up, and i set to work on cleaning and sterilizing the final parts at home. i thought chicken with veggie packets was the perfect way to break in the grill.

the main "recipe" for this came from Pillsbury Grilled Vegetable Medley Packets. it was really the only thing online i found that seemed worth trying.

 recipe:
~ingredients~
allows for 2 [large] servings - these are the amounts I used. you could easily add more or different veggies per your own faves!
3/4 zucchini (medium sized)
5 (small) red potatoes
3/4 white onion
1/4 red pepper
2 T butter (i used unsalted)
1 T olive oil (about)
1 sprig fresh thyme
S+P

~instructions~

1. preheat/prepare grill.
2. chop all your veggies and combine in bowl.
3. melt butter, add S+P, thyme and olive oil; pour over and mix veggies.
4. make a foil packet, add veggies to center, fold top and fold edges. leave an inch or two at the top for expansion.
5. i had my grill on pretty high and cooked for 25-30 minutes. the potatoes were perfectly soft. probably could have come out a little sooner, so if your grill is really hot - don't go more than 25 minutes. i would have liked the zucchini and pepper a little less soft.
6. open packets carefully, allowing steam to escape.

this recipe is pretty simple. limited seasons and herbs, and i liked that. however, probably could have used a little more salt and thyme and maybe some garlic cloves thrown in (but discard instead of serving). oh - and the chicken - i marinated in olive oil, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper - josh's had balsamic and mine had fresh lemon juice. those took about 15 minutes or less to cook. (seriously, that grill was HOT.)

big thanks to sissy and her hubs for the grill!! i see lots more grilling happening! (as long as i don't get attacked/scared away by bees...) and yes - we'll have you over for dinner sometime :)