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.

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.

Beet Treat

It seems like a stretch to call this cooking, but I thought I'd post it anyway because it's surprisingly good and the fastest thing ever to prepare.  It's hard to believe how different beets taste with some lemon juice on them.  They end up tasting sweet!  This recipe is also taken from Eating Alive.  Sometimes I sprinkle a bit of dried parsley on top.

1-3 grated beets (or sliced canned beets if you want it to be really simple)
1-2 lemons, juiced

Mix the beets and juice together and serve on a lettuce leaf or with an avocado half.  Yum!