Barbecued Veggie Sandwiches

Yay for barbecue season!

My honey and I have changed locations, yet again.  After living on the farm for the last half year, we are now spending a couple months with my folks in southern Ontario.  This has changed our cooking yet again.  This summer it's boiling hot outside, and my folks have a fantastic barbecue, so cooking outside is a no brainer.  We've come up with a few tasty barbecue options.  The first here is a vegetarian lunch we came up with when a couple vegetarian relatives came for a visit.  My folks are meat eaters through and through, so I was looking for something that was pretty substantial to satisfy everyone.  Everyone was full and happy at the end, so I'd say it was a success.

Ingredients:

eggplant
zucchini (a combo of yellow and green is nice)
white onion
sweet red peppers
store bought or homemade hummus
gluten-free buns or wraps of your choice
olive oil
lemon juice
garlic

You'll notice here that I've left out measurements of the ingredients.  For the marinade use roughly equal parts lemon juice to olive oil, and enough to coat or brush the veggies with.  Add minced garlic to taste.

As for the veggies, slice the eggplant and zucchini into thin rounds if using buns, or long strips if using wraps.  Seed and chop the red peppers into fat slices.  Peel and quarter the onions.  Coat all the veggies in the marinade.  Allow to sit in marinade if you can, but if not, go ahead and throw them on barbecue at medium-high heat.  Turn veggies during cooking so that both sides are cooked.  The peppers may get slightly charred.  You'll know they're all cooked when the zucchini and eggplant have softened.  Eggplant can be chewy if undercooked, so let them get quite soft.

Once cooked, spread hummus on the wraps or buns, and fill with a variety of veggies.  Serve with a side salad if desired.

Baked and Dressed Zucchini AKA Jamie Oliver Zucchini #2

This is one of easiest recipes ever, and yet still so good!  Try and find really small zucchinis.  I omitted the vinegar and mint and used dried parsley, and it was still awesome.

Ingredients:

8 small zucchini
olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
red wine vinegar
a small handful each of chopped fresh parsley and mint

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Wash and pat dry zucchini.  Toss them with olive oil and generous amount of salt and pepper, and lay in ceramic baking dish.  Bake for 15 minutes until soft and blistered.  Remove from oven and dress with a couple splashes of red wine vinegar and the herbs.  As Jamie says, "loosen and balance" the dressing with a splash of extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle of S&P.

Simple Sauteed Zucchini with Chilli and Lemon AKA Jamie Oliver's Zucchini #1

My aunt gave me a Jamie Oliver cookbook a couple years ago for Christmas and I've been a fan ever since.  I wasn't much of a TV watcher so I didn't know him, but now I'm a big fan.  He's passionate about food and making a difference.

When it comes to Jamie's stuff, I am particularly fond of his veggie recipes.  They taste amazing, and as far as I can tell they're pretty hard to mess up!

Here's the first of two zucchini recipes I've made by him.  Thanks Jamie!

Ingredients:

4 small zucchini
olive oil
1 dried red chilli, crumbled (I substituted dried chili powder... which I'm sure isn't the same, but was still yummy)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
juice of 1/2 a lemon
a knob of butter (butter may be omitted)

Slice zucchini with a mandolin or sharp knife so they're under 1/4 inch thick.  Heat a large frying pan over high heat and pour in a "good" splash of olive oil.

Drop sliced zucchini into pan and fry for two minutes with the chilli and garlic until they begin to brown.  Season well with salt and pepper, add lemon juice and butter, and cook for another two minutes.  When juice has evaporated remove pan from heat and serve.

"Light" Roast Veggies

Recently I moved in with some folks on their farm, so my cooking has changed somewhat.  Now instead of cooking primarily for myself and my partner, I am treated to the cooking of others and pitch in the occasional side dish.  Since they raise beef here on the farm (and are therefore far more experienced in it's preparation than I am), I find myself looking for side dishes that I can add to the family meal. 

This recipe was something I mixed together last night.  I wanted something easy and fast, as in nothing that needed peeling!  I call it "light" not because of it's fat or calorie count, but rather because the veggies used weren't the heavy, starchy veggies so often roasted.  Ordinarily I would use olive oil in a dish like this, but we had grapeseed oil on hand last night and it turned out great.

Ingredients:

6 peppers chopped (I used 2 each of red, yellow and orange)
1 or more red onions, chopped
1 pkg (aprox 10-15) medium sized button mushrooms, stems removed and cut in halves
5 zucchini, chopped in large chunks

Throw all the veggies together in a roasting dish.  Splash with oil and toss so they are lightly coated.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 min or until it looks good.  :)

Serves 8.