Grilling
Veggie and Tofu Skewers with Peanut Hoisin Sauce
This Minnesota summer has seen a long, hot spell combined with a drought. Every day, we water and cross our fingers that it might rain a little, soon. It’s also way too hot to do any kind of baking. That’s the perfect time to use that grill to your advantage. I embrace the heat, and make grilled vegetables and tofu.
Of course, it is zucchini season, so you might well have an overload of zukes that shouldn’t go to waste. This method is a showy, fun way to put them to use. The first thing you need is a delicious sauce. I stirred up an easy, no-cook peanut-hoisin sauce in a flash. Then The veggies. I did blanch the brussels sprouts for one minute, just to help them cook through on the grill without drying out. The tofu got a sprinkle of tamari and sesame oil for a bit of flavor beneath the sauce. But the fun piece is the weaving of zucchini ribbons onto the skewers. Watch the video, for a quick demo. You’ll need a mandoline or a chop top box to slice the zucchini evenly and thinly.
Grilled Plum Salad-A Kiss Of Fire Makes Fruit Sing!
After we’ve eaten our fill of the juicy fruits au naturel, I like to move to the Plums were made for the grill. Just a few minutes on the hot grates softens and sweetens the fruit. Then they are ready for this salad. I always place them cut side down at first, to get a little marking on the surface and start the cooking, then flip them. Then, the skin of the fruit holds the juices in, keeping the fruit from exploding and losing all it’s sweet liquids to the fire. This time, I sprinkled with a little cinnamon.
Smoked Tomatoes on the Grill, to Freeze for When The Cold Winds Blow!
When the tomato harvest is coming hard and fast, do what I do-make Smoked Tomatoes on the Grill and freeze them for later. You’ll be so glad you did!
Tostadas and Salsa-All On the Grill!
Mealtess Grilling is the Best! In this recipe, I grill the tomatoes, corn and hot peppers, for a bit of charred flavor in the salsa. The heat sweetens the corn, giving it a bit of caramelization as it cooks. My skewered grape tomatoes become soft and juicy, as their skins blister and blacken. Two hot chilies mellow and become friendly, and it is easy to slip the skin away, if you choose to do so.
The real fun starts when you grill fresh chips and tostada shells. Instead of buying a bag of tortillas, serving tacos once or twice, then watching them languish in the fridge, I now make them into grilled chips and shells. No need to heat a pot of oil to deep fry your tortillas, when the grill will make them into crispy chips in a couple of minutes.
What Are Garlic Scapes, and What Do I Do with Them?
Garlic Scapes appear briefly at the Farmer’s Market and in CSA boxes in early summer, and are worth snapping up for a seasonal feast.
You Don’t Hate Tofu! Try Thai Marinated Tofu on the Grill, and My Pro Tips!
https://youtu.be/M7uZtT7ddmM Have you ever known something for so long that you forget about it, then suddenly realize that it's time to get back into it? That's just how I feel right now about tofu on the grill. It seems that our time has come, because of the...
Make a Pizza with Edible Flowers, It’s Like Eating Summer
I recently did a cooking demonstration at the Mill City Farmer’s Market, showing the crowd how to cook stuffed squash blossoms. The number of people who told me that they had no idea that you could even eat squash blossoms convinced me that it’s time to talk about...
Smoky Trumpet Mushroom Pizza is Perfect for Fall
Smoky Trumpet Mushroom Pizza Celebrates the Mushroom Remember when wild mushrooms were, well, wild? Oysters, shiitakes, all the wild mushrooms had to be hunted and foraged, and only made brief appearances during mushroom season. Now, we have mushroom growing...
Celebrate Summer with Grilled Cantaloupe Pasta Salad
When you think about grilling, it's usually all about burgers, or corn on the cob, or even pizza. But have you tried grilling cantaloupe? Yes,. when the cantaloupes are heavy on the vine, fat with sweet, juicy goodness, it just happens to be grilling season. So why...
Cook Kale on the Grill, For an Easy Pasta Meal
I have big news! I finally bought a new grill. Yup, just a run of the mill, under $200 number. No bells, no whistles, no LED lights or motorized spit. Because, really, I don't need anything fancy. Just heavy grates and consistent heat. It took me some time, after...
Whole Wheat Bao with Black Bean Tofu, The Steamed Bun for Everyone
Bao are hot right now. At least if you pay attention to all the chatter about places like Momofuku in NYC. Bao are simply Chinese steamed buns, and they come in many forms. The folded bao that they serve at places like Momofuku are made with a fluffy, sweet white...
Smoked New Potato and Heirloom Tomato Salad
Last week, I posted a recipe for smoked oyster mushrooms and bruschetta, inspired by the mushrooms that I found at the farmer's market. Well, my market bonanza was not limited to amazing mushrooms, not by a long shot. I also scored some tiny new potatoes. These babies...
Smoked Oyster Mushroom Bruschetta, Fun with The Grill
Summertime is a time for simple food. I know my summer will be brief and intense, so it's more important to bury my fingers deep in the soil of my garden, or walk along one of the lushly overgrown creek banks than to spend time fussing over elaborate meals. That's...
Panini-Grilled Tofu and Veggies-Get More Out of Your Panini Press
You may remember that last week, I grilled apples in the panini grill. Here in the hinterland, only the most hard core grillers still have their outdoor grills in service. I've tried firing a gas grill up in the depths of winter. The poor thing blazed away and never...
Simple. Spring. Asparagus.
Our local asparagus is in, despite weather so tiresome that we can barely stand to make small talk about it. It seems that we shifted from winter to summer overnight, and the asparagus was there, pushing its way out of the muck. Kudos, asparagus! Huzzah and hooray for...
Grilled Corn Pizza with Korean Flavors: Corn Meets Kimchi
Last week I mentioned the sometimes meandering road that inspiration follows, as the palate sparks little bouts of obsession. This week is yet another example of this. Yes, I've been obsessing a bit on Korean flavors, and posted a recipe for lettuce wraps that...
The Beauty of Grilled Cauliflower
One of the great things about cooking is that you can follow your muse, becoming slightly obsessed with certain foods or flavors, then moving on when another one catches your fancy. The wide world of plant foods offers up a bounty of inspiration, with each seasonal...
Grilled Quinoa-Avocado Filled Collard Rolls, Greens Inspiration
Sometimes inspiration comes in strangely circuitous ways. I was teaching a class the other night, and my menu included the Lentil Rice Rolls with Taratoor Sauce from my first book, The New Whole Grain Cookbook. It's funny, I've created so many recipes over the years,...
Smoked Tomatoes on the Grill: Sweet Summer Umami
End of summer brings an embarrassment of riches, as the farmer's market and garden offer heaps of ripe produce. Melons, corn, zucchini, greens, and of course, tomatoes. These tomatoes are the best we will have all year, brimming with juicy vine-ripened flavors. Real...
Too Hot to Bake? Try the Grill!
Here in Minnesota, we are known for our cold weather, bland food, and funny accents (Yah-you betcha!) But we also get a very concentrated couple of months of hot, humid summer, when temps can sail into the 100's. Oh, and we have wildly diverse, International...
Grilling Pizzas at the Mill City, So You Can Too!
I had the opportunity to do a cooking demonstration at the fabulous Mill City Farmer's Market a couple of weeks ago, and of course, I wanted to grill pizza. Why? Well, for anyone still a little afraid of pizza on the grill, I want to show how easy it is to make a...
Aphrodisiacs, Asparagus, and Wine
I'm back from the St Paul Farmers Market, with yet another harvest of local, just cut asparagus. It is time for yet another tasty dish, and to prove again that asparagus goes just fine with wine. I teach an aphrodisiac foods class, and asparagus is always one of the...
Safer Grilling- Vegetarian Pizza on the Grill!
It's gotta be grilling season again. All the foodie mags will have luscious, well lit photos of grilled food on the cover, all adorned with perfect charred grill marks. Steaks turned a quarter turn to make the little diamond cross hatches are the sign of a true grill...