Christmas bbq - advice/opinions welcome

watna

ok, I'm currently trying to get my head around Christmas dinner in the watna household this year. My parents are visiting from Ireland and are determined to have a bbq. I'm ok with that - it really is too hot to have a roast dinner. One issue is that my parents in law are also coming down. They're Hindus and don't usually celebrate Christmas. They don't eat pork or beef and my mother lin aw fasts every Thursday - Christmas or no Christmas. Fasting for her does not mean not eating it means not eating meat, she can eat vegetable dishes.

It really is going to be a very strange Christmas for a number of reasons and it's hard to think what we can make to make the day gel.

We've told my parents in law to bring some lamb (they only eat lamb or chicken) and a vegetable dish for my mother in law to eat (which will be curry as she doesn't eat any other kind of food). I reckon she'll just eat what she brings and maybe a small bit of salad so I won't really need to cook for her.

I'm cooking a ham (which I'm getting from work). I might serve this cold as a salad meat, a greek salad and a waldorf salad, some sausages and some moroccan marinated chicken made to this recipe http://www.lifestylefood.com.au/recipes/2755/chermoula for the bbq. I was thinking of making a cous cous salad and some moroccan flat breads. I'm also going to bbq some peppers, asparagus and aubergine.

For dessert I have a Christmas pud and brandy butter (also from a hamper from work) and probably a pavlova with fresh strawberries.

I'm still not sure how it will work out though. It all seems very random.

Any advice or suggestions are welcome as are good cous cous salad recipes

olaola

I saw this on Market Kitchen a few weeks back - a spicy chicken & cous cous recipe. Have been dying to try it, looks nyom : http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/607647

watna

Mmm, looks good. I like the spiciness in it too. Think I'll give it a try. I think making some spicy food is the way forward so the in-laws will eat it. Moroccan is spicy without being Indian!

The Hill Billy

You could always do a side dish of basmati rice with pomegranate seeds & fresh coriander. The white, red & green colours would add a festive touch to your BBQ while complimenting any spicy dish.