Meatless Monday | The BBQ Grail

Meatless Monday: Very Veggie Pizza with Marinated Artichokes

Pizza! Is one of the greatest food items ever created. I’ve loved pizza my whole life and it’s been part of some defining moments in my life. I’ve eaten the worst pizza on earth at the Navy Exchange Cafeteria in Yokuska, Japan while going to high school there as a Navy brat. I’ve spent many a Friday evening in high school eating pizza at Fillippi’s in Lemon Grove, California after Mount Miguel High School football games. In 1982 when I gave up drinking I even thought I’d never be able to eat pizza again because the thought of not having a beer with my pizza was beyond my understanding.

Tonight was another of those defining moments. Pizza without meat! I’m sure I broke some obscure law of nature with a veggie pizza. It has to be so. But what’s worst of all is that I actually enjoyed it. This will have to be our little secret. Now before anyone thinks I’ve gone off the deep end and become a vegetarian I’d still prefer a pizza loaded with sausage but for Meatless Monday this was one darn good pizza.

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Meatless Monday: Grilled Tomato Basil Soup

Ingredients:

12 Vine Ripened Tomatoes
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
2 garlic gloves, peeled and smashed
3 cups Vegetable Stock
1 cup Tomato juice (I used V8 Juice. Next time I’ll use Spicy V8 for a little more kick.)
Pinch of Chili Flakes
Pinch of sugar
Salt (Kosher or Sea)
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated
1 tablespoons Oregano
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olice Oil
3 sprigs of Fresh Basil leaves, coarsely chopped

Preparation:

Pre-heat your grill.

Brush tomatoes with a slight coating of olive oil and grill them for 15 to 20 minutes or until the skin scorches and begins to peel. Place tomatoes in a plastic bag and set aside to cool.

Peel and roughly chop 8 of the tomatoes. Save all the juices and discard the peels. Place the flesh and juice of the peeled tomatoes in a sauce pan with the remaining olive oil, garlic, vegetable stock, tomato juice, chili flakes, sugar, salt.

Simmer for 15 minutes. Season with pepper and additional salt to taste. Remove the garlic.

Place the four saved tomatoes in four warm bowls and ladle the soup over the top. Garnish with a bit of parmesan cheese, oregano leaves and the fresh chopped basil. Drizzle the soup with the extra virgin olive oil.

Meatless Monday: Grilled Portabello Mushroom Quesadillas

If you’ve read The BBQ Grail blog you know I’m a huge meat fan. When my wife and I decided we (well actually mostly me) needed to eat more vegetables we decided to try cutting out meat one day a week. I saw a reference to Meatless Monday on the internet and decided to give it a try. There some health and ecological agendas involved for some, for me it’s about eating less meat and showing you how to do it on a grill. The first entry in the BBQ Grail Meatless Monday series is Grilled Portabello Mushroom Quesadillas.

Ingredients:

4 Portabello Mushroom caps, cleaned and gills removed
2 Red Bell Peppers, seeded, de-veined, roasted and sliced
8 Fresh Basil Leaves, hand torn.
4 oz mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
4 or 8 tortillas

Instructions:

Rub the bell peppers with a little olive oil and roast them over a hot grill (either charcoal or gas grills will work). It only takes a couple of minutes so watch them. Don't be afraid to char them.

Place the hot roasted bell peppers in a plastic bag. The steaming of them peppers will make it easier to remove the skin. Once the skin is removed, thinly slice the peppers. If you do the peppers first they can steam in the bag while you grill the mushrooms.

Place the hot roasted bell peppers in a plastic bag. The steaming of the peppers will make it easier to remove the skin. Once the skin is removed, thinly slice the peppers. If you do the peppers first they can steam in the bag while you grill the mushrooms.

After you clean the mushroom rub it with a little olive oil and put them on your grill for about 4 to 5 minutes per side. After they are done, remove from grill and let them cool while your peel and slice your bell peppers. Once cool thinly slice the mushrooms.

I used a cast iron griddle for heating the quesadillas. Place a tortilla on the griddle and place some mozzarella cheese on each one. A lttle roasted bell pepper on top of the cheese.