Grilling plant foods and Farmers Market

It's the second day of Summer.  Happy Summer everyone!

Yesterday was so beautiful and the Farmers Market was over flowing with beautiful colors and smells.  Happily sampling fruits and pistachios as my friend and I walked amongst the tents of organic goods.  Before we left we hung out and watched my friend's band play.  Good times.

These are local beans from a couple of towns over.  The middle bag are yellow beans which are recommended for Chili.  Since these are local they are fresher which means the cooking time is less.  They turned out to have a nice mellow flavor.  I used them below...

Grilled Vegetable Nachos

Father's Day grilling.  The above is grilled seitan marinated in a chimichurri sauce. The seitan recipe I use for grilling is taken from Veganomicon.  This is one of my husband's favorite meals.  I haven't made it since last year so he was happily surprised with dinner.

 Local artichokes that were steamed then drizzled with olive oil, garlic, lemon and sea salt then put on the grill.  Local corn too.

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms that I grill as well.  Our local health food store had these HUGE  organic Portobello Mushrooms. One of them fed the 3 of us.  We noticed that these Portobello's were really light and airy compared to all of the other ones we have eaten. 

After visiting the Farmers Market I always realize just how lucky we are too have all of this fresh food available to us.  I definitely am so thankful for this!

Getting back to grilling.  This is a great meal to serve to someone who is trying to switch to a plant based diet.  The texture of the seitan and the flavor of the Portobello satisfies everyone's tastes. 

On another note it is my husband's first day of juicing.  Yep he had his first green juice this morning.   He is going to try to follow the Crazy Sexy Diet plan with my help, well with my preparation. ha! 

I'll share my new juicer I bought a couple of months ago next time.

Be thankful for what you have and smile!

Citrus Agave Grilled Tofu/Portobellos w/wild rice

I was craving wild rice the other day and was thinking about how I could use it in a main dish as well as using the grill outside. POP! An idea popped in my head and the end result....it totally hit the spot! My son gave me a high five. This has a very light tangy, savory & lightly sweet flavor. It's really perfect for a Spring evening.

Marinating Tofu:

• 1/2 block of extra-firm tofu or( I use Trader Joes that comes in a two pack-15oz, I use one pack)
• 4 Tbsp. Agave syrup
• 3 Tbsp. Soy Sauce or Bragg's liquid Aminos
• 1 1/2 tsp. brown rice vinegar
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• juice from 1 small orange
• 1/2 tsp. fresh thyme

In a small casserole dish mix all marinade ingredients except for tofu, set aside. Next, slice tofu into 5 pieces, then with a paper towel or clean cloth towel press down on each slice to get as much liquid as possible out. Add tofu slices to marinade and coat. Every half hour or so flip tofu so marinade coats it well. Marinade for at least 2 hours, the longer the better.

Wild Rice Medley:

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup Imagine No Chicken Broth or vegetable broth
• 1 cups wild rice medley(mixture of wild rice and brown rice)
• salt to taste

Bring 2 cups water to a boil then add the wild rice medley, stir cover for 45 minutes or until done.

Veggies:

• 5 medium portobellos, thickly sliced
• 4 oz. snow peas, cut in half
• 1 1/4 cup brocolli, sliced
• fresh thyme and oregano to taste

Slice portobellos and brush with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with sea salt. Set aside to grill.

In a small saucepan bring some water to a boil and blanch snow peas and brocolli, about 1-2 min. In a strainer rinse with cold water to stop cooking.

Heat bbq up and grill tofu and portobellos (reserve tofu marinade). This takes about 15-20 minutes. Dice tofu into bite sized pieces.

In a heat resistant bowl add the wild rice, snow peas, brocolli, portobellos, reserved marinade, thyme and oregano to taste. Stir thoroughly then add the tofu and gently stir. You can add a dash of salt if needed but unlikely.

Hope you enjoy we did!