Vegetarian Barbecue: Grilled Pizza

Why Vegetarian Barbecue: When I first stopped eating meat, the thought of summer barbecues made me sad. I knew summer gatherings where barbecues were involved, would never be the same. And they haven’t been, but I’ve learned that with a little bit of extra effort, they can be just as enjoyable. With that in mind, over the next few weeks I’m going to share some of my favorite recipes and ideas for a Vegetarian Barbecue

Last Week: Quinoa, Edamame, Salad

This Week: Most people don’t associate pizza with barbecues, but I’d like to change that! Making pizza on the grill is so easy, fun, and delicious! It’s also really great when you have a mix of vegetarians and omnivores, because you can customize pizzas to all tastes and preferences.  And who doesn’t love to throw the dough up in the air while speaking with an Italian accent? Just make sure no one notices if you drop it on the patio.

The Ingredients: Homemade or Store-bought Pizza Dough, Homemade or Store-bought Tomato Sauce,olive oil for brushing on the dough, fresh mozzarella cheese, basil, tomatoes, any other toppings you might want (We made one Margherita pizza for the vegetarians and one with cappicola or spicy Italian ham, onions, and grated mozzarella, for the meat-eaters), I used a pizza stone but you can place the pizza directly onto the grill if you don’t have one.

The Instructions: Turn on your grill, place the pizza stone in the center. Let the grill heat up to about 500 degrees. Meanwhile, slice the tomatoes and cheese, and prepare all your ingredients. Bring them outside so you have easy access to them by the grill. Shape your dough into a flat circle. Brush the pizza stone with olive oil. Place the dough on it. Close the grill and let the dough cook for about two minutes. Brush the top of the dough with oil. Use a flat cookie sheet to flip the dough over. Immediately put on your toppings. For our Margherita pizza, I spread the sauce first, then add the tomatoes, lastly the cheese and the basil. Close the grill. Let it cook for about 5-7 minutes, until the cheese is melted, and the bottom of the dough is crunchy.

Warning: Grilling your own pizza will change your life. It’s so delicious, you’ll never settle for take out again. Also, it’s very hot when its first off the grill, so be careful!

Vegetarian Barbecue; Quinoa, Edamame, Salad

Why Vegetarian Barbecue: When I first stopped eating meat, the thought of summer barbecues made me sad. I knew summer gatherings where barbecues were involved, would never be the same. And they haven’t been, but I’ve learned that with a little bit of extra effort, they can be just as enjoyable. With that in mind, over the next few weeks I’m going to share some of my favorite recipes for a Vegetarian Barbecue

Last Week: Southwestern Black Bean Burgers
This Week: Today’s recipe was inspired by a salad I had at my friend’s sister’s graduation party. Quinoa salad is an excellent salad for a vegetarian barbecue (or picnic) because of all the protein it packs. Protein is always what people ask about when they discover I’m a vegetarian. “Well where do you get your protein?” is always the second thing they ask, once they’ve accosted me for my reasons.  This salad is the perfect protein rich salad, with quinoa, chick peas, and edamame. Additionally,it tastes so good, both vegetarians and meat-eaters will enjoy it.

The Ingredients: 2 Cups uncooked Quinoa, vegetable broth, 1 bay leaf, a Garlic clove, 2 cups cooked chick peas, 1 cup cooked shelled edamame, 1-2 chopped tomatoes, 1 chopped red onion, chopped parsley, 1 cup dried cranberries, Juice of 1 lemon, 1/8 cup olive oil, salt, pepper, 1/4 cup vinegar.

The Instructions: Cook uncooked Quinoa in vegetable broth with the bay leaf and the garlic clove, according to the instructions on the Quinoa package (Instructions vary by package, I simmered mine (covered) for 15 minutes until all the broth was absorbed, but check your instructions, just substitute the broth for water.) When the quinoa is finished, remove the garlic and the bay leaf and let it cool. Combine all your vegetables and cranberries with the cooled quinoa. Place lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and vinegar into closed container, shake and pour over the salad. The salad may or may not need more dressing, depending on how much it absorbs. Serve at room temperature.

Vegetarian Barbecue; Southwestern Black Bean Burgers

When I first stopped eating meat, the thought of summer barbecues made me sad. I knew summer gatherings where barbecues were involved, would never be the same. And they haven’t been, but I’ve learned that with a little bit of extra effort, they can be just as enjoyable. With that in mind, over the next few weeks I’m going to share some of my favorite recipes for a Vegetarian Barbecue. Whether you’ve invited a herbavoire to a barbecue and are at a loss for what to grill, or you’d just like to stray from the customary meaty barbecue, I hope you’ll enjoy the recipes I share.

The Southwestern Black Bean Burger

Ingredients:

2 15 oz Cans of Black Beans

1.5 Tablespoons Cajun Seasoning (Taco Seasoning Works as well.)

Large handful of cilantro

1/3 a cup of corn (fresh or defrosted)

1/4 cup of chopped red pepper

1 small onion, chopped

1 or 2 cloves of garlic

1 egg

3/4 cup of bread crumbs

Drain and rinse one can of beans. Put into the food processor, with the egg, seasoning, cilantro and garlic. It should be sort of soupy when you remove it. Put it in a big mixing bowl. Add half of the other can of beans (rinsed and drained). Mix together with remaining ingredients. Form burgers.  (You should be able to form patties, but if it’s not thick enough, add additional breadcrumbs.) Grill for 8 to 10 minutes, flipping halfway through. I devoured mine with arugula, avocado, tomato, and Colby jack cheese, but you can serve it with anything you’d like.

Grill Tip: When making any type of burger, always remember to toss your rolls on the grill for the last-minute, so they can get toasted. This one little step is easy to forget but definitely worth remembering!

Beets and Bulgur Wheat

I don’t know if I mentioned it before, but I have a slight obsession with beets. They are right up there with butternut squash and tomatoes as my favorite veggie. Considering it’s the season for fresh beets, I wanted to try out some new recipes, that were more than simply roasting or boiling beets. As I was also obsessing over the idea of making risotto last week, I decided to try to make beet risotto. Somehow this recipe for Beets and Bulgar wheat was the result.

While the result looks absolutely disgusting (it was hard to get my dad to try this and he loves beets), it tastes delicious. Feel free to try this with golden beets, so it doesn’t look like you’re eating mangled bloody body parts. Although, if you’re hosting a Horror Film Party, this makes a perfect entrée, red beets and all.

Ingredients:

3 or 4 decently size beets, chopped into 1 inch cubes

1 cup uncooked bulgur wheat (or similar grain)

3 cups boiling water

Splash of wine

A decent bunch of chopped swiss chard

A small handful chopped fresh ginger

1 chopped Vidalia onion

1/2 a stick (2-4 oz) of Goat cheese (optional but delicious)

Put olive oil in the bottom of a large high sided pan over low-medium heat, sweat the onion for a few minutes, add the dried bulgur wheat, ginger, and chopped beets. Saute for another few minutes. Add a splash of wine (to cover bottom of pan). Let simmer for a few minutes more, then add the boiling water and cover. Simmer until half the water is absorbed, then add the chopped chard. Let simmer until the rest of the liquid is absorbed and the chard is cooked. Turn off the heat and mix in the goat cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

As unappealing as this is visually, is as appealing it is to the taste buds. The beets are al dente, because I prefer them with a little bite but if you prefer your beets more well cooked and soft, you cold boil them until they’re halfway cooked first. Of course, if you don’t like beets, you won’t like this. But beets are delicious and good for you, so you should try and like them! As a side note: this weekend I learned the Italian word for beets, and it’s ridiculously hard but fun to say: barbabietola. It’s my new favorite word.

Happy Monday!

Lentil, Spinach, and Sweet Potato Soup

I made this soup last week. It is quite possibly the most delicious soup I’ve ever eaten. It’s chock full of healthy goodness as well, because of all the good-for-you ingredients. I also think it’s pretty, with the mix of bright green spinach and orange sweet potatoes. And unless, I’m being silly, I’m pretty sure this is also a 100% vegan recipe.  

 

 

Ingredients:

olive oil

1 medium-sized yellow or Vidalia onion

3 cloves of garlic

1/2 a scallion

red pepper flakes to taste

1/2 teaspoon of cumin

1/2 teaspoon of yellow curry

1/2 teaspoon of paprika

3/4 of an inch peeled fresh ginger

32 oz. veggie broth

32. oz water

2 parsnips

3-4 carrots

1 large or 2 small sweet potatoes

2 large hand fulls of baby spinach

2 chopped tomatoes

2 bay leaves

teaspoon dried parsley

1 1/2 cups lentils

 

Sweat onions, garlic, and scallion in a little bit of oil at the bottom of a large pot. Once they’ve begun to sweat, add spices (not fresh ginger). Add chopped carrots, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips, bay leaves, and lentils. Pour in veggie broth and water.Throw in the whole piece of fresh ginger. Bring to a boil. Cover and let simmer for twenty to twenty-five minutes, until lentils and veggies are tender. Add tomatoes, spinach, and dried parsley. Simmer for a few more minutes and then serve.

 

 

To Make Vegetable Broth

Somehow, the spelling of “broth” still looks wrong, despite the fact I’ve googled it approximately 4,002 times to confirm I’ve spelt it correctly. I should have just said stock instead, but I believe there’s no such thing as vegetable stock, because the word stock implies the use of animal bones. On Sunday, I made vegetable broth to be used for the soup on Thanksgiving. There is nothing quite as good as homemade broths or stocks.

Ingredients: 3-5 carrots, 2 parsnips, 1 turnip, 1-2 medium onions, 1 fennel bulb, 3-4 stalks of celery, 5 garlic cloves, 1-2 medium tomatoes or several cherry tomatoes, handful of chopped leek, handful of parsley and dill, 1 shallot, bay leaf, salt, pepper, red pepper)

To make Vegetable broth, begin by cutting all of your vegetables and herbs. Put them into a big soup pot.

Add cold water until the vegetables are all covered. Throw in bay leaf, salt, pepper and red pepper.  Put on high heat. Bring to boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 2-3 hours.

Turn heat off, and let your soup cool. Once it’s cooled enough, strain the broth into a Tupperware for future use. Remove the bay leaves. Next puree the solid vegetables in a food processor or blender. Put this into the strainer and use a wooden spoon to squeeze the excess liquid into the broth. 

Now you have your Vegetable broth and a bunch of nasty looking smashed vegetables. The broth is finished, but don’t let the smashed veggies go to waste. Here’s how to use them to make a thick creamy soup.

First, heat some olive oil and red pepper in a smaller soup pot. Then add the mashed up veggies, some cumin, curry powder, ginger and coconut milk into the pot. Mix together. Heat thoroughly, about 10-15 minutes so the flavors can meld.  Lastly, salt and pepper to taste.  I served mine with toasted pine nuts, toasted Italian bread, and parmesan cheese.  It was a huge hit, and an awesome way to avoid wasting the vegetable broth’s leftovers.

I’m no expert, but I usually use vegetable broth within 5-7 days of making it, keeping it in the fridge. It can also be frozen and used within 6 months. Others will probably tell you it has a longer shelf life, and I assume it does, but it would freak me out to go longer.

So now I have my vegetable broth for my soup on Thursday. I’m making Stracciatella soup, which is an Italian egg drop soup that is so delicious! Ah, Thanksgiving Soup, I can’t wait to eat you. 

Do you make soup on Thanksgiving? What kind? Do you make your own veggie broth or use the kind from the store? Also, can you tell the difference between a parsnip and turnip? (I could not, until I googled it. How pitiful is that coming from a gardener who also cooks?)

<3 Frankie

Sweet Potato Sticks

I had epic plans to come home from work last night and edit photos for the rest of my posts for this week. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. You see, I rediscovered this thing called knitting. Did you know you can make articles of clothing out of a ball of yarn? It’s amazing! Anyway, since yesterday I knit for hours instead of editing photos, here is a never before seen post complete with recipe for your viewing pleasure. Not sure why I never published this, as I really love the pictures. They are proof you don’t need a fancy camera to take nice photos, and yet I still bought one…

 

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The other day I got a really bad craving for sweet potato fries. They are not available at many restaurants I go to, and I miss them so I decided to make them. I didn’t want to actually fry them as someone told me fried foods are a bit unhealthy. I decided the bake them instead. They were super delicious but I didn’t want to call them Sweet Potato Fries because that name is misleading. These do not live up to the name fry as they were not completely crunchy on the outside and mushy in the center. When I held them up they flopped down, definitely not worthy of the title fry, but nonetheless delicious. I think you could probably rectify the lack of crunch by broiling for a bit at the very end. Anyhoot here’s what I did:

I cut up the sweet potatoes into sticks.

I sprayed a cookie sheet.

I spread the sweet potatoes on the sheet.

I brushed them with olive oil.

I grated parmesan cheese on the top.

I ground sea-salt and black pepper onto them.

I baked them in the oven at 415 degrees for 15 minutes.

I flipped them all over, brushed them with oil, grated cheese onto them, and then seasoned them.

I returned them to the 415 degree oven for another 10 minutes.

Then I ate them all, only sharing a few with Tex.

We both really liked these things I call Sweet Potato Sticks.

<3 Frank

Garden Salsa and Homemade Chips

I was planning to write about a special visitor we’ve had since Monday, but I am having trouble uploading photos from my new camera to the computer so I thought I’d post a recipe I never posted this summer. This is a post I wrote during the peak of my tomato harvest. I think this salsa was particularly delicious.

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After all those worries about not having any tomatoes, all of a sudden I have a surplus. Unfortunately, the size and flavor of these tomatoes doesn’t really make them good for making sauce. Instead, yesterday I made salsa. It was delicious. I used jalapenos from my garden and a variety of heirloom tomatoes. Here was one day’s garden haul.

I chopped them all up into roughly the same size small pieces.

Then I donned gloves, and cut up a jalapeno. You probably think I’m a little nutty for wearing gloves while cutting a jalapeno but the first time I chopped a jalapeno, I didn’t wear gloves. I was careful, I washed my hands when I finished. Then I scratched my nostril. Then I became a fire-breathing dragon and to calm my inflamed nostril the only thing I could do, after a quick google search, was stick yogurt up my nose. It helped but still hurt, and I had to keep it on there, walking around with a glob of yogurt up my nose like a two year old. It was very traumatic. Anyway, now I always cut jalapenos with gloves. So I put on my gloves and cut the jalapeno into tiny pieces. I added it to the chopped tomato.

I squeeze half a limes worth of juice into this mixture. I chopped cilantro and added that into the mix. Then I covered it and put it into the fridge while I made some chips from flour tortillas.

 

I cut 2 tortillas into small triangles. Then I brushed them with olive oil. On a cookie sheet, I baked them at 420 for about 3-5 minutes on each side, watching carefully as I didn’t want burnt chips. When they were done, I used them to dip into my homemade salsa.

It was all so yummy. I’ll definitely do this again as it was really easy and delicious.

<3 Frank

Quick Lentil Soup

In the fall and winter, when I get home from work and I want to make something delicious but quick, soup is my go-to meal. I absolutely adore soup and it’s so easy! It’s pretty inexpensive as well. The thing about soup when I make it, is that I rarely use the exact same combination of ingredient amounts. Basically, I put whatever veggies I have on hand into my Lentil Soup and my bean soups. At my house, we always have dried lentils.

Here’s what I did for this Lentil Soup.

1. Saute onions, garlic, and jalapenos in a little bit of butter.

2. Add potatoes, carrots, and celery. Mix together, toss with salt.

3. Pour the veggie stock and diced tomatos into the pot.

4. Add the lentils. Bring to boil, and simmer for 25 minutes, or until veggies are tender.

5. Add hot sauce (to taste), ginger, and a bit of tahini. At this point, you can add any fresh herbs you might have on hand. I usually like to add parsley, or cilantro.

6. Simmer for another 10 minutes, or longer if you aren’t prepared to serve dinner.

Time to eat the soup. You can serve this with crusty bread, some pasta, or even crackers.  Enjoy!

<3 Frank

Zucchini Invasion

Last weekend one of my goals was to tackle some of the mass amount of zucchini and yellow summer squash we’ve been getting from the CSA and also the garden. I already made zucchini bread a few weeks ago, zucchini cookies, zucchini pizza, and I’ve grilled a large amount of zucchini as well. I decided I wanted to try a new recipe. I thought about zucchini pancakes, but I knew that wouldn’t keep well and be good for leftovers all week, so I made a kind of baked frittatta/casserole. It’s pretty yummy. Here’s what I did.

I grated 2 1/2 zucchini/ summer squash in the food processor.

I put it into a big Bowl.

I cut up Onions.

I added the onions to the zucchini/summer squash.

I beat two eggs. I added red pepper flakes, ground black pepper and salt to eggs.

I added thyme and basil to the zucchini/summer squash.

I coated the zucchini mixture in the egg mixture.

I added about 1/3 a cup of bread crumbs and a good amount of grated parmesan to the mix.

I poured it into a casserole dish.

I sprinkled bread crumbs and more cheese all over the top.

I added little bits of butter to the top.

I baked in the oven at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

Then I ate a very large serving.

If you don’t like parmesan you could use cheddar or even mozzarella. This dish was pretty yummy and pretty easy to make. If I hadn’t taken pictures as I went, it only would’ve been like 10 minutes of prep. And it gets rid of uses a lot of the surplus zucchini during a zucchini invasion. What’s your favorite way to cook or eat zucchini?

-Frank