One of the reasons I do the Meatless Monday dishes is because everyone once in a while it’s a nice change of page.  The good thing about this dish is that it not only tastes great and is filling but it can easily be adapted for those that insist that meat be part of every meal.  All you’d need do is add some pulled pork or chicken and you can satisfy the meat lovers who have limited capacity for veggies.

Another great aspect of this meal is once you get the basic ingredients down it would be easy to substitute other things.  For example it would be easy to change out the rice for quinoa.  Or maybe wild or brown rice instead of plain old white rice.

Make sure when you select your tomatoes that they are firm.  Squishy tomatoes will be less likely to hold up to the grill temps and since they need to hold the filling you want them to not collapse

You want to also make sure your peppers are nice and firm too.  This recipe, as I present it, is fairly mild.  So if you want a little extra “bam” try Poblano or Anaheim chiles instead.

Grilled Stuffed Peppers and Tomatoes

Ingredients:

• 1 large tomato or
• 2 small tomatoes
• 1 bell pepper (color of your choice)
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 glove of garlic
• 1/3 cup blanched almonds
• 1/2 cup white rice, cooked and drained
• 1 tablespoon fresh mint, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh italian parsley, chopped
• 2 tablespoons golden raisins
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped almonds
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Pre-heat your gas grill or light your charcoal.

If you are using one large tomato cut it in half.  If you are using smaller tomatoes just cut the top off.  Using a spoon remove all the pulp and seeds, save in a bowl.  Drain the cut tomatoes, cut side down on a paper towel.  Chop the tomato pulp up and set aside.

Cut the bell pepper in half and remove all the seeds and veins.  Lightly oil the bell pepper halves with a little olive oil and grill them for about 10 minutes until they just start to soften and get dark around the edges.  Place the pepper halves on a rack along with the uncooked tomatoes.  Season both with salt and pepper.

Brush the onion slices and the glove of garlic and grill them until the onion slices half grill marks and start to turn translucent.  Chop the onions and garlic and place them in a medium bowl.  Add the chopped almonds, herbs, raisins and tomato pulp and mix.  Add the cooked rice and fold everything together.  Don’t stir, you don’t want to mush the rice.

Spoon the rice mixture into the tomatoes and bell peppers and top with chopped almonds.  Drizzle with just a touch of olive oil and grill with indirect medium/hot heat for about 12 minutes until the tomatoes and bell peppers are cooked through.   Garnish with more chopped herbs and serve.

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I wanted to come up with something a little different for this Meatless Monday post.  I had read several other blog posts and recipes for mushroom burgers and thought that with a little twist they would be great as a Meatless Monday salad.  Back in January I attended the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco and one of the great products I came away with were some croutons from Olivia’s Croutons and I thought instead of using them as a straight-up crouton I could use them as a binder for the mushroom cakes.  My thought process was to make them more like a crab cake instead of a dense mushroom patty.

Unlike the traditional ‘bella mushroom patties where a whole mushroom cap is used in this recipe the mushrooms are chopped very fine.  When combined with the veggies, croutons and pecans you end up with a very light cake.

The cakes are also probably a little to crumbly to grill on their own.  Using a grill basket made it easy to grill them and get a nice char on them.

I plated the mushroom cake with a spring salad mix and a little ponzu vinaigrette.  It worked pretty good.  The flavors melded well with the mushrooms.  I used just a plain button mushroom because I didn’t think with all the other flavors it would really matter much.  After cooking these I don’t think using a more expensive mushroom would really make much of a difference.

The next day I used one of the leftover mushroom cakes as a burger.  With some nice colby cheese and warmed on the grill it made a great burger.  The mushroom flavor even stood up to all the “extras” you put on a burger.  I’m not sure how many times I’d make these, but for those people who are less inclined to eat beef these might make a regular appearance on the menu.

Meatless Monday Mushroom Cakes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds mushrooms, very finely chopped
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups leek bulbs, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cups Olivia’s Multi-grain Croutons, crushed into bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 3/4 cups  toasted pecans, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons Tamari Soy Sauce
• 2 tablespoons Hoisin Sauce
• 1 teaspoon ginger, minced
• 1 teaspoon tumeric
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

In a hot skillet toast the chopped pecans until they are golden brown, set aside.  If you have not purchased toasted sesame seeds, toast them as you did the pecans.

Add olive oil to the skilled and saute the chopped leeks, ginger and garlic until softened.  Place all ingredients in a large bowl and mix throughly.  Form into patties.  Place patties on a baking sheet, lined with parchment or wax paper.  Chill formed patties in the refrigerator for at least two hours.

Grill the cakes/patties on a medium to medium hot grill until slightly charred and warmed all the way through.  The goal is to cook the mushroom without drying them out.

Serve immediately.

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I love meat.  There’s just no getting around the fact that for many people meat is BBQ.  Over the past year or so I’ve been trying to expand my grilling horizons with some Meatless Monday dishes and the mushroom tacos were both easy to fix and quite filling.

All you need to do is slice and remove the seeds and veins from two poblano peppers, slice some red onion.  Also remove the gills from a couple portobello mushroom caps and cut them into large, thick slices.

Place all the veggies in a bowl and drizzle them with a little olive oil.

Place them on the grates and grill them until done.  Don’t worry about the darkness of the poblanos.  Once the veggies are done rough chop them and put them in a bowl. Sprinkle with a little cumin and cover while you heat the tortillas.

When the tortillas are done fill them with the veggie mixture and your normal taco toppings.  I used a little cilantro and some salsa.

Simple…simple…simple!  Give them a try.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Larry Gaian

For my birthday my son bought me a copy of Andrea Chesman’s  The New Vegetarian Grill, Revised Edition: 250 Flame-Kissed Recipes for Fresh, Inspired Meals and I’m going to be using this book for several upcoming Meatless Monday posts.

I’ve been thinking about my Meatless Monday posts and I thought it would be a good idea to have a dessert to go along with the previous and future posts.  This post is inspired by Andrea’s recipe.  The recipe is her’s except I used a special ice cream instead of whipped cream.  If you are all interested in grilling meatless dishes I can’t recommend a better book to guide you.

Maple Grilled Pound Cake With Peaches

By Andrea Chesman

• 8 firm ripe peaches or 16 canned peach halves
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 1 8-inch pound cake cut into 1-inch slices

If you are using fresh peaches, dip them into boiling water for about 30 seconds to loosen their skins.  With a sharp paring knife, pull away the skin and discard.  Halve and pit each peach.  If you are using canned peaches, drain well.

Prepare a medium fire in the grill

Combine the orange juice, butter and the maple syrup and mix well.  Brush onto the peaches and both sides of the cake slices.  Grill the peaches and cake slices until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side for the peaches and about 3 minutes per side for the cake.

Place a slice of cake and 2 peach halves on each plate.  Drizzle additional maple syrup over the cake and peaches, if desired.  Serve at once.

I wanted something different to eat with this dessert and I wanted something a little savory to contrast the sweetness in the maple syrup and peaches.  My friend Stephan Franklin has come up with a couple of great rubs and his “Simply Marvelous Sweet & Spicy” rub I thought would compliment this dessert.  But how to turn it into a dessert was the question.

The answer was:

Simply Marvelous Brown Sugar Ice Cream

• 4 egg yolks
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup (packed) brown sugar
• 3 cups half-and-half or light cream
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon Simply Marvelous Sweet & Spicy Rub (more or less depending on your taste)

In heavy, medium, non-aluminum saucepan, whisk together the egg yolks and brown sugar until thick. In another medium saucepan bring the cream and half and half just to a boil over moderate heat. Gradually whisk the hot cream into the egg yolk mixture in a thin stream. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon about 6 minutes.   Do Not Boil.

Immediately strain the custard into a medium bowl. Stir in the vanilla and cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Cover and refrigerate until very cold, at least 5 hours.

Pour the cold custard into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Let the ice cream soften slightly before serving.

This ice cream recipe is adapted from a recipe on www.inmamaskitchen.com

One of the “Meatless Monday” challenges I face is coming up with meals that actually appeal to me.  When my copy of the Gordon Ramsey cookbook,  Cooking for Friends, arrived I was glad to find a veggie dish that both sounded good and could be done outdoors on the grill.

So here’s my take on Gordon Ramsey’s Grilled Vegetable Lasagna.  The main different between the recipe below and what I did was the vegetables were all cooked on my Weber kettle.  The original recipe also uses the oven, as I did, but it could be done in the smoker or indirect on your gas or charcoal grill.

The original recipe calls for using the broiler to char the bell peppers, I used my Weber kettle.

I also gut the zucchini into long 1/2 inch thick strips instead of rounds so they were easier to grill.

Topped with a little basil. Added some french bread and a salad for a complete meal.

Grilled Vegetable Lasagna

By Gordon Ramsey in Cooking for Friends. Published in 2008 by HarperCollins

• 10 ounces fresh lasagna sheets (about 12)
• 3/4 cups freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
• 3 buffalo mozzarella, 5 ounces each, thinly sliced
• small handful of fresh basil, leaves only

Tomato and basil sauce:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 celery ribs, chopped
• 1 carrot, finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• leaves, stripped from a spring of fresh thyme
• 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes in juice
• 1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
• small handful of fresh basil, leaves torn

Grilled Vegetables:

• 1 small eggplant
• 1 large zucchini
• 1 yellow crookneck squash
• Olive oil for drizzling
• leaves stripped from a few sprigs of fresh thyme
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1 red bell pepper

First, make the tomato sauce.  Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat.  Add the onion, celery, carrot, garlic, and thyme with some salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring frequently until the vegetables are soft, 6 – 8 minutes.  Tip in the tomatoes and bring to a simmer.  Simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the sauces has been reduced and thickened slightly about 30 minutes.  Taste and add sugar if the sauce seem acidic.

Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables.  Trim the eggplant, zucchini and squash, then lice into 1/2 inch rounds.  Drizzle the olive oil and season.  Toss with the herbs.  Cook in batches on a hot grill pan until tender and slightly charred, 2 – 3 minutes on each side.  Transfer to a large bowl.

Preheat the broiler to hot,  Cut the bell peppers in half and place them cut-side down on a lightly oiled baking sheet.  Broil until well charred, 10 – 15 minutes.  Remove and let cool slightly before peeling off the skins and discarding the seeds.  Cut the flesh into wedges and add to the bowl of grilled vegetables.

When the tomato sauce is ready, add the basil.  Transfer to a food processor and blitz until smooth.  taste and adjust the seasoning.  Tip into a bowl and let cool.

Prehead the oven to 350 degrees F. Sppon  a thin layer of tomato sauce over the bottom of a deep baking dish.  Put two sheets of lasagne on top, then sprinkle with a little Parmesan.  Arrange a layer of grilled begetables on the pasta, followed by a layer of mozzarella.  Add another layer of tomato sauce.  Repeat the layers until reach the top of the dish.  You want to finish with a layer of lasagna sheets spread generously with tomato sauce, topped with a final layer of mozzarella cheese and a sprinkling of Parmesan.  Bake until the cheese topping is golden brown and the sauce is bubbling around the sides.  30 – 40 minutes

Serves 4 – 6.

]]> http://thebbqgrail.com/2010/grilled-lasagna/feed/ 2 http://thebbqgrail.com/2009/stuffed_peppers/ http://thebbqgrail.com/2009/stuffed_peppers/#comments Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:23:03 +0000 Larry http://thebbqgrail.com/?p=2018

I love meat.

I love the flavor and

I love the texture meat gives my food.

Although I have enjoyed the three Meatless Monday dishes I’ve grilled so far, I’ve missed the meat.  So this week I’ve decided to give a soy product a try.  An “online” friend suggested a product called Soyrizo.  I

Continue reading ... Meatless Monday: Stuffed Bell Peppers

I love meat.

I love the flavor and

I love the texture meat gives my food.

Although I have enjoyed the three Meatless Monday dishes I’ve grilled so far, I’ve missed the meat.  So this week I’ve decided to give a soy product a try.  An “online” friend suggested a product called Soyrizo.  I love good mexican style chorizo and was a little skeptical that a soy product was going to give me the flavor and texture I wanted.  I never thought I’d have a product in my house that was labeled “vegan” let alone actually eat it and enjoy it.  But the Soyrizo was very good. For those with delicate taste buds, beware, Soyrizo has a bite to it.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Ingredients:

• 4  Bell Peppers, tops removed and veins and seeds removed
• 11 oz  Soyrizo sausage
• 2/3 stalk celery, minced
• 2/3  carrot, minced
• 1/3 cup onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• salt & pepper to taste
• 2/3 (14.5 ounce) can of whole peeled tomatoes, chopped (I used Rotel already chopped)
• 2/3 cup cooked long grain rice
• Your favorite BBQ sauce
• 1/2 cup Jack Cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup Cheddar Cheese, shredded

Directions:

Pre-Heat your smoker to 300 degrees.  If you are using a charcoal or gas grill set it up for indirect heat.

In a large skillet cook the Soyrizo until almost brown.  (NOTE: Soyrizo doesn’t cook or brown like traditional Chorizo, so just make sure it’s heated through.  Because there is no fat to speak of you’ll need to add some oil or butter to cook the veggies).  Stir in the celery, carrots, onions and garlic and cook until soft.  Season with salt and pepper.  Stir in the tomatoes with liquid.  Add the cooked rice and remove from heat.

Fill the bell peppers with the Soyrizo & rice mixture.  Leave about 1/4 inch unfilled in each pepper.  Top the mixture with a little BBQ sauce.

Place the bell peppers in some type of dish that will handle the heat on the smoker/grill.  I used a metal pie plate.  Place the stuffed bell peppers in the smoker/grill and cook until the bell peppers are almost tender.  Top each bell pepper with the cheese and continue to cook until the cheese is melted.

Remove from heat and let rest for five minutes.  Serve with a salad or other side dish of your choice.

A few pictures:

Stuffed bell peppers topped with BBQ sauce.

Topped with cheese.

Ready to eat.

Cut and ready for the first bite.

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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.

The recipe I used was the “Very Veggie Grilled Pizza with Marinated Artichokes from Grill Every Day: 125 Fast-Track Recipes for Weeknights at the Grill by Diane Morgan.  It was flavorful and I really didn’t feel the need for meat at all.

Very Veggie Grilled Pizza with Marinated Artichokes

(Courtesy “Grill Every Day 125 Fast-Track Reipes for Weeknights at the Grill” by Diane Morgan.  Published 2008 by Chronicle Books)

• 1 16- to 18-ounce package of fresh or frozen dough
• 1/2 small Walla Walla or other sweet onion, cut into thin wedges
• 1 small yellow or red bell pepper, halved lengthwise, seeded, deribbed, and cut into long, narrow strips.
• 1 large clove of garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoons extra-vergin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
• vegetable-oil cooking spray
• All-Purpose flour for dusting
• 1/4 cup store-bought marinara sauce
• 1 jar (6 ounces) marinated artichoke hears, well drained and halved
• 2 plum tomatoes, cored and thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup pitted and halved canned ripe olives
• 2 cups (8 ounces) coursely shredded whole-mile or part-skim, low-moisture mozzarella cheese.

If using fresh dough, remove it from the refrigerator 30 minutes before you roll it out.  If using frozen dought, transfer it to the refrigerator a day before you plan to make pizza, so it can thaw slowly, and then let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes feore you roll it out.

Prepare a hot fire in a charcoal grill or preheat a gas grill on hight.  If the grill has a built-in thermometer, it should register between 500 and 600 degrees.  Have ready a 14-inch, non perforated pizza pan, preferably an inexpensive aluminum one.

While the grill is heating, place the onion, bell pepper, and the garlice in a bowl.  Toss the vegetables with the olive oil, oregano, red pepper flakes and salt.  Set aside.

Coat the pizza pan with vegetable-oil spray.  Remove the dough from the plastic bag and place on a lightly floured work surface.  Lightly dust the dough with flour.  Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a 10-inch road without rolling over the edges.  Lift the dough occasionally to make sure it isn’t sticking to the work surface.  Shake the excess flour from the dough.  Lay the dough on the prepared pizza pan and gently stretch it into a 14-inch round.

To top the pizza:  Spread the marinara sauce over the crust, leaving a 1-inch border.  Arrange the mixed vegetables evenly over the sauce.  Scatter the artichokes over the top.  Arrange the tomatoes in a single layer over the vegetables.  Strew the olives over the top.  Evently distribute the cheese over the vegetables.

Place the pizza in the center of the grill directly over the hot fire and cover.  (Work quickly so the grill temperature doesn’t drop too much.)  grill the pizza until the crust is crisp and golden brown and the cheese is melted and bubbly, about 9 minutes.

Using a pizza peel or think oven mitts, remove the pizza from the frill.  Slice the pizza into wedges and serve immediately.

To make life easier you can use store bought or frozen pizza dough but with a wife who bakes having homemade dough is a great addition to any pizza.

With sweet onion, bell peppers, olive, tomatoes and marinated artichokes the pizza was loaded with flavor.

I used a pizza stone on my Traeger smoker instead of a grill. This pizza can be grilled very easy using an indirect method on a kettle or ceramic smoker

By cranking the smoker up to 425 degrees I got a nice browning on the crust. Not only did I never think I'd eat a meatless pizza but I never thought I'd eat a thin crust pizza. The cracker like texture of the thin crust was fantastic with the veggies.

This was a great pizza.

The recipe calls for store bought marinara sauce.  If your house is like mine you often times have a jar of store bought marinara sauce, but on those occasions when you don’t here is a simple, easy to make marinara/pizza sauce recipe you can use in a pinch.

Quick And Easy Marinara Sauce

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes in puree

• 1/2 teaspoon each dried basil and oregano
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
• Pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a medium-size saucepan. Stir in the chopped onion and sauté it for about 8 minutes, until translucent. Stir in the garlic and sauté for another 30 seconds.
2. Stir the remaining ingredients into the pan, then cover the sauce and bring it back to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Cook the sauce for about 10 minutes, stirring often. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Makes about 4 cups.

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.

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 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.

Next the thinly sliced mushrooms. Don't forget to add the basil. Cover with a little more cheese and another tortilla.

Add some salsa, avocado and spanish rice and you've got a filling meal without meat.

You can cut down on carbs by using one tortilla and just folding it in half.