Al Fresco Recipes with Beko American Style Fridge Freezers
Food is a central part of every family and social gathering. At Beko, we know that our products should not only make your life easier, but also help you save time and money. With its sleek design and large capacity, the Beko American Style Fridge Freezer is perfect for entertaining.
Our American Style Fridge Freezer also has two separate cooling systems, so it maintains high humidity in the fridge whilst the freezer stays dry, frozen, and frost-free. This makes it the perfect companion for everyday dining no matter how big your weekly shop is. But don't just take our word for it, we picked some of our favourite food and lifestyle bloggers and sent them an American Style Fridge Freezer to see if it could help them indulge in some al fresco dining this summer.
A Mummy Too
Veggie Bean Patties
Emily from A Mummy Too found the Beko American style fridge freezer to be an incredible space-saver, and loved the sleek stainless steel look. Its generous capacity makes it easier to stay organised and keep all the food she needs for her family fresh and delicious. Emily came up with a tasty and budget friendly recipe for Veggie Bean Patties that take hardly any time to put together. We love this recipe, and you can easily make them more child-friendly by using less chilli and more cheese.
Ingredients
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2 x 400g cans of mixed beans (240g each when drained)
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280g jar of sundried tomatoes in oil
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1 large free range egg
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1 rounded tsp chilli powder
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100g hard cheese, finely grated (Divo Vegetarian Grated Italian Hard Cheese by Aldo Zilli is a good veggie option if you need one)
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8 pitta breads
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A handful of lettuce or basil leaves, as preferred
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8 tbsp houmous
Instructions:
- Drain the beans and rinse them well.
- Drain and roughly chop the tomatoes and add to a large bowl with the beans.
- Use a fork to mash the mix, leaving some beans still intact, and then stir in the egg and chilli powder.
- Add the cheese and stir until evenly combined.
- Divide the mixture into 4 and work into burger shapes.
- Emily cooked her patties on a Tefal Optigrill because it was too wet outside, but you could cook these in a griddle pan on the BBQ - just keep cooking until they are firm and a little crispy.
- Serve in a warmed pita bread with fresh salad leaves and houmous.
Grilled Lemon and Herb Chicken with Salad
If a veggie option doesn't take your fancy, Emily also has a great recipe for Grilled Lemon and Herb Chicken served with the perfect summer salad. Simple to prepare and delicious to eat is a winning combination!
For the chicken
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1 large chicken breast
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2 tbsp oil
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Juice of 1/2 lemon (save the other half to squeeze over at the end)
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1 tsp finely chopped lemon thyme
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1 tsp finely chopped parsley
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Good pinch of salt and pepper
For the salad
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1 tbsp pine nuts
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4-6 sundried tomato pieces
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2 handfuls of mixed leaf salad (I used rocket and watercress)
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1/2-1 tbsp balsamic glaze
Instructions
- Marinade the chicken in the oil, herbs and lemon in the fridge for at least an hour.
- Fire up the grill – this works great on the barbecue, just push the coals to the side a little so that the chicken cooks through rather than just burning on the outside.
- Grill, turning once or twice until fully cooked through – it could take up to 20 minutes.
- Slice through the thickest part first to be certain there's no rawness in the middle, then rest for a minute before slicing into 1/2 to 3/4 inch strips.
- Lightly toast the pine nuts in a dry pan over a high heat (you can do this on the barbecue if you wish).
- In a bowl, layer up the salad leaves, tomatoes and pine nuts then drizzle with the balsamic.
- Lay the chicken on top, add a squeeze of lemon and season further, if desired.
Emily told us she loves the Beko american style fridge freezer
"The fridge section alone is the width of our old fridge-freezer, with the frozen section adding another half that width again. And it's deeper than our old model – all this means loads more space inside and I LOVE it." The extra capacity allows her to cook meals in bulk and freeze them, which saves both time and money. The freezer is designed so that the frost doesn't build up, which means there is no wasted space and bulk buying becomes even easier. The eco functions of the appliance uses on average £11 less electricity a year than a standard model of the same size so there's even more savings to be had!
Redhead Babyled
To help you get through the BBQ season (or indulge in some indoor grilling!), Donna from Redhead Babyled has some ideas and recipes that will help you put together a great barbecue. We loved her BBQ tips so much, we wanted to share a selection with you:
- Make sure you cater for everyone including vegetarians and children.
- Don't over think it. The best barbecues are the ones where there is simple food, help yourself drinks, music and socialising.
- Even simple food can be pretty! Putting some herbs and butter on your new potatoes, making sure your salad has some nice colours in it and buying decent rolls can all make a simple barbecue look so much more exciting.
- Make sure you have room. Donna often used to run out of room to store barbecue food and drinks and would end up with a fridge full of food and nowhere to keep drinks cold. The Beko American Style Fridge Freezer means you have plenty of space to store food and drinks. Plus there's a separate meat drawer as well as the salad drawers that makes barbecue organisation even easier.
- Remember dessert!
It doesn't have to be an event. Most of the barbecues Donna has at home are just with her husband and kids. Don't just do barbecues when you have friends coming over – make them normal for any day of the week.
Chicken is a barbecue failsafe and we love Donna's simple chicken marinade recipes that add a little something to your dishes.
Chicken Marinades
Garlic Lemon Chicken
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300ml natural yogurt
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zest and juice of 1 lemon
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1 tbsp Paprika, 1 tsp mixed herbs
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1 tbsp olive oil
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3 cloves of garlic – crushed
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Seasoning
Spicy Barbecue Chicken
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300ml natural yogurt
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2 tsp chilli powder – as strong as you like
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2 tbsp ground coriander
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2 tbsp ground cumin
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1 tbsp turmeric
Instructions
- For both of the above recipes, mix the ingredients together and cover 8 chicken pieces in the marinade.
- Put the coated chicken in the fridge for as long as you can – a few hours is fine but up to 24 hours will allow the flavours to infuse for the maximum taste.
- Remove the chicken from the fridge and place straight onto a hot barbecue. It's easy to get the pieces of chicken mixed up once they've started cooking as they all look the same, so try and make sure they're both separated on the grill so you can easily tell which is which!
