No-Stress Vacation Dinner

On Saturday we found ourselves in an unusual predicament: It was 4:00 and we hadn't decided what was for dinner yet. Oddly, if it were a normal weekday at home, this wouldn't be an issue. But we were on vacation, and as anyone who has read my first book (or read the post "My Drill Sergeant of Leisure") might recall, on vacation, we like to lock down the dinner plan over morning coffee. This way we don't steal away a single unit of psychic energy from what should be the only order of business: kayaking, swimming, pretending-to-read-but-really-napping. (OK, so that's a few orders of business.) Andy's idea of hell is wandering a packed grocery store with other sunburned dinner-makers at 5:30, the time he should be mixing up an icy, limey Gin and Tonic on the porch.

But this is where we found ourselves nonetheless. We knew we wanted to grill -- that was a given. But what? A family meeting on the pool chairs didn't yield any obvious candidates: One kid wanted burgers, the other wanted fish. I suggested the old healthy stand-by, yogurt-marianted chicken, but Andy wasn't in the mood. (I think we've made that twice a week all summer long.) And plus, we didn't have time for any marinating.

I should've known that we'd wind up anchoring the plate to grilled sausages. No matter where we are in the world, there is a variety to choose from (pork, chicken, lamb, veggie) to suit different tastes, they can be grilled (we're at the beach so there is a moratorium on oven use) and they don't require a single second of prep-work, a crucial quality when there is a bike begging to be ridden. To round out the ideal vacation dinner formula (grilled something + fresh something + something the kids go crazy for) we added cucumber raita and a puffy, salty grilled flatbread, which Phoebe said tasted like a doughnut. Done and done.

Grilled Sausages with Cucumber Raita and Grilled Flatbread*

Raita 1/2 cup plain yogurt (if you have time to strain the yogurt, add yogurt into a strainer lined with a coffee filter and let sit over a glass in the sink for a half hour) juice from 1/2 lemon 1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic (or garlic powder) 1/4 teaspoon cumin 1/4 cup olive oil salt and pepper handful fresh mint, chopped 3 cucumbers, peeled, seeded and chopped into bite size pieces

Sausages 2- 2 1/2 pounds good-quality sausages (extra credit for merguez, but can be hard to find, we did a mix of sweet and hot Italian)

Grilled Bread 1 16-ounce ball pizza dough, divided into four pieces and placed on a cookie sheet olive oil sea salt

In a medium bowl, whisk together yogurt, lemon juice, garlic cumin, olive oil, salt, pepper, and mint. Toss with chopped cucumbers and chill until ready to serve, so flavors meld.

Meanwhile, heat your grill. When coals are medium-hot, add sausages and grill and turn until cooked through, about 5-10 minutes depending on thickness. Remove from grill and cover with foil to stay hot.

Meanwhile, brush each ball of dough with olive oil, then using your hand and fingers, flatten and press into pita-size pieces. Flip the dough as you shape it, so oil is covering the entire ball of dough. Sprinkle with salt. When the sausages come off the grill, add the dough to the bread and flip a few times, making sure they don't burn, until cooked through and puffy, about 5 minutes total.

Vacation dessert is never hard to figure out when you have access to Good Humor Bars. (The only dilemma: Toasted Almond or Chocolate Eclair?)

P.S. As for styling the photo with starfish: Guilty as charged.