Maple BBQ Wings

One of the easiest, most economical and tastiest snacks - wings. Everyone has their favourite; whether they be dripping with sweet sauce, rubbed in spices or served suicidally hot! Now, we all know that wings are not the most low fat food (someone once told me that one deep fried wing was equivalent to the fat content of one Mars bar - not sure if that's true!), but every once in awhile it's OK to indulge and your tastebuds will rejoice!

I've opted to pick a method of cooking the wings that would remove some of the fat, rather than adding to it. The BBQ is a good choice, especially in the summer heat, plus there is hardly any mess to clean up (just the chicken bones!).

Maple BBQ Wings

• 2 lbs wings/drummies
• 1 can tomato paste
• 2 tbsp cider vinegar
• 3 tbsp maple syrup (if you don't like the taste of maple you can replace this with agave nector for a healthy choice, or sugar).
• 2 cloves crushed garlic (either buy it crushed, or use a mortar and pestle, or the back of your knife, to crush).
• 2 tsp dry mustard
• salt and pepper

Sauce

1. Combine all ingredients, except for the wings and salt and pepper, in a saucpan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat and let the sauce simmer for about 5 minutes.
2. Add salt and pepper to taste. At this point also taste to see if the balance of the ingredients tastes right - you might want more vinegar or more syrup. Let cool.
3. Store in a jar in the refridgerator for up to a week.

Wings

1. Heat your grill to medium-high heat. Season the wings with salt and pepper.
2. Grill wings, turning occasionally, until they are nicely browned and almost cooked through.
3. Place a piece of heavy duty aluminum foil on the grill and scrunch up the sides so it looks like a bowl (you want to keep the sauce from escaping!)
4. At this point you could either: a) put the wings in a metal or glass bowl (because they will still be hot do not use plastic, you do not want to ever heat plastic) , toss them with the sauce then pour it all into your foil bowl, or b) put the wings in the foil bowl, pour the sauce on and stir it around gently making sure to coat the wings well. If you use option B you can always slowly add the sauce, saving some for near the end to ensure they are really saucy!
5. Close the lid and let the wings cook for about 15-20 minutes, gently stirring/flipping the wings to ensure they are well coated and sticky.

Remove from the heat and enjoy!

p.s. I leave for Ontario this Friday to visit my family. So there will be no posts next week, but definitely the week after.