Turkey brats and balsamic tomato asparagus

First grilling night of 2011 was yesterday at our residence, and it was every bit as good as I remember it being!  It was such a gorgeous day, a little windy but I cant complain, we went on a bikeride and came home to grill brats for our Sunday night meal. 

I say brats but I mean turkey italian sausage...and for those of you who think that your hubby or bf wont be down for the switch from pork to turkey, I dare you to switch them out without asking first.  Justin has been resistant to a few of my substitutions for skinny alternatives, but not many.  The main thing is his meat, he loves sausage and beef and will not be switched to turkey in certain situations.  These turkey sausages are one that he has willingly embraced though, enough that when Curt was upset that he found out they were made of turkey, Justin told him to "stop whining, they taste exactly the same".  (For the record, Curt was not upset after tasting them!) For awhile I would buy the normal fat kid brats for him and turkey sausages for me, but since I got him to try one...Ive completely stopped buying the normal kind.  These pack only 130 calories apiece, still have about 8 grams of fat but they're a lot more heart healthy than the alternative if you've ever read the nutrition info on a pack of beer brats, or even worse (my fave) the cheddar brats. 

Besides brats, we had to have mac and cheese because it was Sunday.  Im pretty sure if we were ever multi-millionaires with our own chef, Justin would still request plain old Kraft mac and cheese a lot of the time! I also tried a new asparagus recipe since I seem to make them the same way all the time.  Its good, but everyone needs a little variety and my new issue of Cooking Light (thanks to my cousin Michelle's son Kane for selling magazines for school or I never would have discovered this one) had multiple ways to prepare asparagus this summer.  This was a balsamic tomato asparagus recipe, I liked it because I could drink balsamic vinegar but Justin said it wasnt a "make again" dish...maybe I'll make it for my mom sometime.  She gets to eat all the stuff Justin doesnt like, like salmon :)  Anyway, I liked it so maybe some of you will, even though Justin is usually my main critic....

1 bunch asparagus
1.5 cups halved cherry tomatoes
2 T olive oil
2-3 T balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 cup goat cheese (I used parmesan since I didnt have any goat cheese laying around)
cracked pepper to taste

The recipe said to boil the asparagus but I put it in my trusty steamer for 15 minutes so it was done to perfection.  I then heated the olive oil up in a skillet, and added the cherry tomatoes and garlic to cook for about 5 minutes on medium heat while I stirred occasionally to keep the garlic from burning.  Add the balsamic vinegar and cook for another 3-4 minutes.  When the asparagus is done, lay it out on a serving plate and drizzle the tomato mixture from the skillet all over it.  Sprinkle with cheese and pepper...I also added more balsamic on top but thats optional.  Turned out well I thought, but Justin thought plain old butter wouldve been better.  Do you sense a theme as to what his favorite cooking method is?

My mind is already racing with all the summer/grilling recipes I had last year, I cant wait to have more gorgeous grilling days and soon be eating dinner by the side of the pool like we do so much in the summer.  Its relaxing just thinking about it.....Happy Monday, all!