Vegan MoFo 2014! Labor Day BBQ

It's Vegan MoFo, the Vegan Month of Food! And what a good time to bring this blog back to life, since it was during Vegan MoFo last year that I fizzled out. I have a good excuse (working two jobs, one of them full time and totally new to me), but now that I have more time (quit the part-time one), I have less of an excuse and would like to get back to blogging!

As I am a college instructor and live on an academic schedule, Labor Day means back to school, so I never look forward to it, but the weather was hot and summery here in Boston and Kevin and I had a lazy day, complete with a nice dinner from the grill: tofu burgers with grilled onions and corn on the cob. Having everything (even the buns) on the grill made it feel like a real Labor Day Barbecue, which made the approaching autumn seem acceptable.

For the tofu, Kevin made a marinade of vinegar, tamari, mustard powder, and olive oil. I used the marinade to baste the tofu and the onion slices as they were grilling.

Also pictured : loads of homemade pickles. It was my first time grilling corn on the cob! Which, of course, means I studied up on the best method. I read this article on the difference between the 3 most-used methods and opted for the third (shucking and cooking, simple!).

And that's it for now! This year, I don't have a theme for VeganMoFo or anything, except: GET BLOGGING AGAIN. I always feel a little apologetic about this, since there are so many great bloggers with cool themes, but maybe next year I, too, will be able to have a cool theme. In the meantime, it's nice to be back! And I'll work hard to have a post each day.

grilled kale

I love kale. It's so versatile, fitting into almost any cuisine, and delicious prepared in any way: steaming, frying, baking, braising, etc. I ALSO love grilled food. Grilling, to me, is like roasting-it makes almost any food even more delicious than it was to begin with. So when I encountered Rachael Ray's recipe for Grilled Tuscan Kale, I had to try it. (For the record, the amount of oil the recipe calls for is ridiculous. I used less than half of what they said, and everything turned out fine. And it already seemed oily enough.)

The process! On the far right, the garlicky, vinegary, raw kale, then in the center, said kale on the grill, and in the baking pan on the far left, the first batch all crispy and ready to be eaten!

The husband and I don't have a real (ie, big, outdoor) grill, but we do have an electric grill that my mother-in-law gave us! Because it's small, it took 3-4 batches to properly grill one bunch of kale. Each batch took 3-4 minutes, so it wasn't much of an ordeal, though I'd really prefer to do this on a big grill where you could just lay them all out any be done with it.

We had it as a side with barbeque tofu and rice pilaf. You can only really eat this kale with your fingers!

Taste-wise, I would definitely make these again. The leaves get all crisp like kale chips, and the stems get softer and more tender. The garlic/vinegar/lemon juice combo sets off the kale's toastiness just enough. However, space-wise, I might wait until we get a real (big) grill to make the recipe once more.

grilled endive

We've been getting endives in our CSA share pretty often this summer. They're awfully cute, and the leaves hold their structure well enough that they make great little boats for serving small portions.

But as cute as endives are, they are very bitter, so there are only so many salads I want to use them in. You may remember from my June post on Grilled Romaine Hearts that I like everything better grilled, so I decided to use the same method on endives. (To see how to do it yourself, check out the grilled romaine hearts entry. It's the same, though I found the endive took about a minute longer to cook.)

I thought some of the bitterness would cook off, but it does not, so I recommend either drizzling a creamy or sweet salad dressing or sauce over it, or serving it alongside something bland and/or something sweet, to help cut the bitterness.

Endive is bitter, especially this late in the season, but it's also a really interesting flavor, one that can add a kick to your meal. Just make sure you play it off more neutral flavors!

grilled romaine hearts

It's grilling season! Just like I believe all vegetables get tastier when roasted, I believe that all food is better grilled.

Grilled tofu, corn, and bread with a (not grilled) salad, from last summer.

I'm a big fan of the smokey flavor charcoal/wood-burning grills impart, but I take what I can get. Being city dwellers, we don't have a grill, nor do we have a place to put one, but we have a cast-iron grill pan, which is the next best thing. I like that grill pains allow you to control the temperature (and therefore cooking time) a lot better than a real grill can.

Grilled romaine hearts are delicious, quick, and simple. They are, in fact, so easy to make that I almost feel embarrassed giving you a recipe. It's been a while since I've posted an actual recipe, though, so I'm going to do so anyway.

Grilled Romaine Hearts
If this dish is a side to a big meal, one romaine half per person will do. If it's a small or simple meal, use one heart (two halves) per person.
2 hearts of romaine
2 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste (a few shakes of each)

Heat your grill. If you're cooking with a grill pan, you want to heat it on medium. While it's heating, pull away any outer leaves on the romaine hearts that look limp or are falling away from the rest of the heart. Cut the hearts down the middle, length-wise, so you have two long, matching halves.

Brush each side of the romaine hearts with olive oil, then set them down on the grill, cut side down. Shake a little salt and pepper over the side that's facing you.

Cook for about 2 minutes; the edges should look a little wilty in parts and brown in others. (If your grill/pan isn't totally hot yet, this could take 3-4 minutes, but watch it closely.) Flip the hearts, sprinkle this side with a little salt and pepper, then cook till that side is brown/wilty, another 2 minutes.

That's it! The only garnish you need is a little more salt and/or pepper, if you are so inclined. The grill turns what is essentially salad into a sophisticated-tasting side dish.

You'll have to cut it with a fork and knife, but that will give you a reason to use all those steak knives you have in a drawer and rarely have a reason to use. I like to think it adds t the sophistication. Serve with whatever else you have on the grill/pan, like here with grilled tempeh on a bed of grilled onions. Grilled avocado is also a great topper, to keep with more side-salad-like ingredients.