Chili-Lime Veggie Burritos

I continue to be very proud of myself for using my outdoor grill. I hadn't used it for a couple of years because it's always just seemed like too much work, especially if I'm just cooking for myself. But, I've realized it's actually FUN to grill, keeps my house as cool as possible, and the food tastes amazing!

A few weeks ago, Catherine the Food Snob saved a crappy day by making tacos for dinner. She wondered if there exists any person who doesn't like tacos....I thought and thought and decided she was right - everyone likes tacos! Then of course all that thinking made me crave tacos, which was convenient since I saw Crystal's awesome recipe for chili-lime grilled veggie tacos.

I dumped some chili powder, cumin, and salt into a big ziploc bag with sliced veggies, the juice of 2 limes (I love limey stuff so I used a lot of juice) and a glug of olive oil. After my usual hour-long nightly walk, the veggies were begging to be grilled up!

I had a freshly cooked batch of black beans that wanted to go with my veggies so I spiced them up with some chipotle peppers, red onion, fresh sweet corn, and sliced grape tomatoes. I left the cooking liquid in so the beans would stay all saucy.

All the sliced veggies and spicy bean mixture were layered on a giant flour burrito shell, which was also charred up on the grill. Then topped with some sliced fresh avocado. Notice something? No cheese. You don't need it with the creamy beans, charred chili-lime veggies, and buttery avocado. These giant burritos are mega good for you!

Chili-Lime Veggie Burritos, adapted from Crystal Grobe

Veggies such as red onion, portobello mushrooms, zucchini, and yellow squash (colored bell peppers would also be great here), sliced into grillable planks

1 Tbsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

juice of 2 limes

2 Tbsp olive oil

Mix all ingredients in zip top bag, marinate in fridge for at least 1 hour. Heat grill to medium-high. Grill veggies for a few minutes on each side until nicely charred but not burnt. Remove from grill and slice all veggies. Char a flour (or corn) tortilla on your grill and top with your sliced veggies. Add Spicy Corn and Beans in lieu of salsa and top with a sliced avocado. Roll up and eat!

Spicy Corn and Beans

1/2 red onion, diced

salt and pepper to taste

1-2 chipotle peppers, plus sauce, chopped (I used 2 and it was very spicy!)

1 can or pint black beans, with liquid

2 cobs fresh sweet corn, kernels removed from cob

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

Saute red onion in olive oil, salt, and pepper in skillet over medium high heat until soft. Add chipotle peppers and beans with liquid. Bring to a simmer and let most of the liquid cook off. Add corn and tomatoes and remove from heat.

ONE YEAR AGO: Gazpacho

Grilled Teriyaki Shrimp and Pineapple

"The shrimp is on the barbie." Yeah, I really said it. Out loud. And was (rightfully) mocked for it. But since "Dumb and Dumber" is one of my favorite movies, I've always wanted to say that line and actually mean it. Which means (if you can read between the lines), I fired up my Weber and grilled shrimp for dinner tonight.

Tonight's menu was grilled teriyaki shrimp with pineapple over pine nut/scallion brown rice and grilled veggies on the side. Sounds fancy, right? WRONG - it was so simple and the prep was super short.

I originally had the best intentions of making my own teriyaki sauce...but the convenience of Trader Joe's got to me and I purchased this "Island Soyaki" instead. Really, the ingredients in this marinade are nearly identical to the recipe I was going to make anyways - ingredients from the label: soy sauce, sugar, pineapple juice, vinegar, soy oil, sesame seeds, fresh garlic, dried onion, fresh ginger, garlic granules, sesame oil, onion powder, ginger powder. Not bad! I can pronounce AND identify each ingredient.

Then I splurged and got the peeled and deveined jumbo shrimp from Coastal Seafoods to mask my un-homemade marinade.

I also hit up TJ's for their awesome brown rice medley (which I've used before - it's got brown rice, black barley, and daikon radish seeds - nutty, crunchy, and delish!). Then I jazzed up the rice by adding toasted pine nuts and green onions.

I needed some more veg on the side so I grilled up zucchini, yellow squash, and red pepper simply dressed with olive oil, salt, and pepper. About 5 minutes on each side was all it took.

That's pretty much it - easy peasy! And, if you don't have a charcoal grill, use an indoor grill pan or broiler and you'll get pretty much the same delicious result!

Grilled Teriyaki Shrimp and Pineapple

3/4 cup Island Soyaki marinade from Trader Joe's

1 lb jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/2 fresh pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into bit-sized chunks

Soak wooden skewers for at least 30 minutes. Put shrimp and marinade in zip top bag, shake to coat, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Thread shrimp and pineapple on wooden skewers. Grill on medium-hot grill 2-3 minutes on each side or until pink and firm.

Serve over brown rice (recipe follows).

Brown Rice with Pine Nuts and Scallions

1 cup brown rice medley (from Trader Joe's)

2.5 cups water

1 vegetarian bouillon cube

1 cup toasted pine nuts (or peanuts or cashews)

1 cup chopped green onions

Boil water. Add rice and bouillon cube and return to boil. Simmer covered for 35 minutes. Stir occasionally. Add nuts and green onions. Cover and let sit until shrimp is finished grilling.

Serve with additional grilled veggies (preferably green ones!)

Tempeh Reubens

I love a good sandwich, and I rarely bring them for lunch 'cuz I like 'em hot and grilled and melty. And I don't make them often for dinner either because it seems a little indulgent (all that cheese!) so I try to make leaner dinners most nights.

But every once in awhile, that craving kicks in. You know the one I'm talking about...the one that makes you think a frosty cold beer and piping hot french fries from a neighborhood bar would be the perfect dinner. I've been there, done that. It's not healthy. A Tempeh Reuben satisfies that craving in a much healthier way.

You don't need to marinate tempeh, I read somewhere that it makes it fall apart. Just a quick dip in a little sauce and into a hot pan to sear on each side. The sauce I used was simply sesame oil and tamari (soy) sauce.

Also, I know you can make sauerkraut from scratch but it's cheap and yummy from a can. Plus, look at the ingredients - doesn't get much less processed than that!

I know it's traditional to use rye bread in a Reuben, but I have these cute little ciabatta rolls so I improvised. And, oh my gosh I know you are just sick to death of hearing about them, but Refrigerator Pickles are so good with everything I eat right now! They make Tempeh Reubens kick major Tuesday night butt.

Tempeh Reubens

1 package tempeh, cut into sandwich-sized squares

2 Tbsp sesame oil

2 Tbsp soy sauce, or tamari

sauerkraut, drained

swiss cheese, sliced

1 tsp mayo

1 tsp ketchup

pickles, sliced or chopped

sandwich bread or rolls (preferably rye)

Mix sesame oil and soy sauce in shallow dish. Dip squares of tempeh in the mixture, then pan fry over medium-high heat until nice and golden brown on both sides and hot through. I dumped the rest of the oil/soy mixture on top of the tempeh as it was frying to use it all up.

Mix mayo, ketchup, and pickles together to make your "thousand island" dressing.

Layer mayo/ketchup mixture, pickles, tempeh, kraut, and cheese on bread.

Either do what I did and put it on a grilled roll/bun, or grill like a panini.

Salad on a Stick

We Minnesotans love stuff on a stick, as evidenced by the ridiculous display of walleye, candy bars, bacon, fruit, hotdish, and whatnot you find on a stick at the MN State Fair.

Or so I've heard - I've only been to the state fair once and I didn't eat anything on a stick. Mostly because it's all deep fried. Don't get me wrong, I love deep fried food but it's not the healthiest option and when you see all the unhealthy people at the state fair, it's very easy to say "no thanks" to what they are eating.

Why not make something green and lean on a stick? It's a simple way to get some veggies into people at a summer party. Plus it looks really cool on a plate. And it's easy to eat while standing and mingling and waiting to watch some epic fireworks in beautiful downtown Minneapolis.

This is a pasta salad version of Salad on a Stick, but there's a lot of different ways to make it. A Greek salad on a stick would have cucumbers, tomatoes, kalamata olives, squares of feta cheese drizzled with a red wine/oregano vinaigrette. A caprese salad on a stick would have fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, basil, and balsamic vinaigrette. Do you know of any other salads that would work on a stick?

Salad on a Stick

Cheese-filled tortellini, from the refrigerator case at the store

Zucchini and yellow squash, cut into thick slices or chunks

Red and yellow peppers, cut into big squares

Cherry tomatoes

Turkey pepperoni

Extra large black olives

Italian vinaigrette (I bought one of those envelopes of spices and added oil and vinegar in my blender to make it good and whipped).

Boil your tortellini according to package directions then rinse in cold water to stop the cooking. Thread all ingredients on skewers.

Arrange on a platter and drizzle with Italian vinaigrette.

Bar La Grassa Beans

I have to confess that my house is devoid of food right now. It's one of those days I need to scrounge to find something to eat. I've been wanting Hummus to go with my Refrigerator Pickles, but I'm out of garbanzos and I don't want to boil water on the stove for hours in this heat.

So I started digging around in my pantry cupboard looking for some thing resembling creamy hummus. I found a lonely can of large butter beans, thought "what the hell?" and mixed some in with my pickles and pickling liquid. I thought it would be good with some salty cheese so I crumbled some parmigiano-reggiano cheese on top and started snacking.

With the first bite, I had mega deja-vu. I had eaten this before....but where??? It hit me - this tastes exactly like the free appetizer you get at Bar La Grassa! City Pages even listed it as one of their 100 favorite local dishes earlier this year.

No recipe, just wanted to post this so I wouldn't forget how good it is.

Creamy Cucumber Salad

If you are hanging out in South Minneapolis this week and you see a curly-haired chick with a slightly green complexion...it's me. I don't know if my skin really is green, but it should be after all the cucumbers, zucchini, green beans, and kale I've eaten this week.

I had yummy cukes from the Kingfield Farmer's Market and have been waiting and waiting for this time of year to make this salad from www.everybodylikessandwiches.com. It's creamy and rich, but still light and healthy because the creaminess comes from yogurt.

I've been bringing this salad to lunch with some boiled beets thrown into the same tupperware. It turns the yogurt dressing fuchsia, and honestly it MAKES MY DAY to open my lunch container and see that beautiful bright color! How can anyone not smile when their lunch is hot pink???

The cucumber salad also goes very well with salmon burgers, made from this recipe. Know what else goes really well with salmon burgers? Refrigerator pickles! And a fresh slice of tomato. And mayo jazzed up with lemon juice and fresh dill. And toasty buns!

Anyways, I digress. This is a nice way to enjoy a no-cook side salad and use up some of those cucumbers you may have grown, purchased, or been given during the height of MN growing season.

Creamy Cucumber Salad, adapted slightly from Everybody Likes Sandwiches

2 cucumbers, sliced thinly

1/2 Tbsp salt

4 Tbsp plain whole milk yogurt

1 Tbsp mayo

juice of 1/2 lemon

freshly ground black pepper

2 Tbsp fresh chopped dill

3 scallions, chopped

4 Tbsp crumbled feta cheese

Mix everything together. Chill. Eat.

ONE YEAR AGO: Nothing, I was totally on vacation!

Refrigerator Pickles

There's a bar up by my lake cabin out in the middle of nowhere called The Pickle Factory. In the basement there are rows and rows of pickled things for sale. I bought a jar of spicy pickled mixed veggies (red pepper, cauliflower, green beans, and carrots). It was a nice addition to my bloody marys!

But ever since then I've been dreaming of making my own pickles, because six bucks for a pint of spicy pickled veggies is crazy! I knew I could do it for much less, and without all the mess of actual canning.

Today at the Kingfield Farmer's Market, I got some pickling cucumbers for $2 or $3 (can't remember which). I made these dead simple pickles and they're an excellent addition to a simple no-cook summer supper. Keep in mind, though, these are not spicy - they are very sweet. I thought I didn't like sweet pickles, but I was wrong. These are yummy.

My favorite way to eat these pickles is with hummus. Pickles and hummus on a sandwich, in a wrap, or just on crackers. It's a combination I learned at PDT, the bar hidden behind a telephone booth inside Crif Dogs restaurant in the East Village NYC. Cass and I went there in 2008 when she interviewed for a job (which she naturally nailed and was offered). While sitting at the bar enjoying a cocktail, we ordered the veggie dog - and it came smothered in hummus and pickles and was DELICIOUS. Brilliant.

Refrigerator Pickles, adapted from MyRecipes

5-6 cups sliced cucumbers (small "kirby" cukes work best but I've used regular cukes and they'll work too).

1 large sweet onion

4 cloves garlic

1 cup distilled white vinegar

1/2 cup cider vinegar

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp celery seed

1/2 tsp mustard seed

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped

Slice your cucumbers, onion, and garlic finely. Use a knife, mandoline, or zip 'em through the slicer attachment on your food processor. Place into a large bowl.

Boil all the remaining ingredients (except dill) in a saucepan for 1 full minute and pour over your veggies. Let cool to room temperature, then add dill and refrigerate.

ONE YEAR AGO: Arugula, Feta, and Watermelon Salad