Father's Day

Father's Day.  The last 2 years, I've shorted Courtland when it comes to celebrating Father's Day by mistakenly planning girls weekends (insert selfish comment here) and coming home late by missing my planes.  . .I know. . . not one, but two years in a row.  So, this year, I marked my calendar and made sure my man got his day of celebration.  We started off the day by going out for breakfast at his favorite dive breakfast joint, Sunnyside Up Cafe, with our 3-year-old, Jack.  If you live in Minneapolis and haven't had the french toast at Sunnyside, you are seriously missing out. Go there, order it. It's crunchy, cinnamon goodness.   Don't order the coffee--it's terrible.  Stop for coffee at Bob's Java Hut across the street after breakfast.
With our bellies full for the rest of the day, I had enough time to prepare  Father's Day dinner.  Courtland requested burgers.  Now, I just couldn't make any old burgers, so decided to make Brie Sliders.  Marinated Grilled Vegetables,  Roasted Beets, and a Tomato-Basil Salad with a Balsamic Reduction were served as side dishes to balance out the richness of the sliders.  I did all the prepping and Courtland was the grill master.  Dinner was incredible.   Below are the recipes for the sliders and my mom's recipe for marinating vegetables.

 Brie Sliders

1 pkg. of small size buns or rolls (Breadsmith makes great small buns for sliders)
1 1b. grass fed beef (I like Thousand Hills)
season burgers with dried thyme, sea salt, pepper, and a small diced onion
Make into small patties
Grill until medium-rare/medium (or to your liking)

While the sliders are resting, place a thin piece of brie cheese (St. Andre is the bomb)-let the cheese melt a bit, before placing on the buns ( I warmed mine in the oven with a bit of butter first). 
These burgers do not need ketchup or mustard, unless of course you just have to add them.

Vegetable Marinade

3 T. balsamic vinegar
2 T. fresh lemon juice
1 T. olive oil
1 T. low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 tsp. black pepper

Combine ingredients in a large Ziploc bag.  Add vegetables of your liking (bunch of asparagus, portabella mushrooms, peppers, onions, and zucchini)  to fill most of bag.  Marinate vegetables for at least 30 minutes.  Place on grill basket or tray and grill until heated through and browned.