I initially wanted this blog to be primarily recipes again, but I have only posted two recipes so far. This is unacceptable! So, here are a couple more veggie/vegan friendly recipes that I have up my sleeve. The first recipe just sort of happened a couple months ago. I was making a grilled cheese sandwich and I had some extra tomato left over, so I just fried it up, put it on top of my sandwich, and ate it with a fork and knife. With a little thinking, it turned into this:
Black Tomato Open-Face Sandwich
2-4 Slices of bread (halved ciabiatta buns, crumpets, french loaf), toasted
1-2 Large Beefsteak Tomato(es)
1+ Avocado(es) OR Fresh Mozzarella cheese
Fresh basil leaves or dried basil
Oil
Salt and Pepper
1. You can do this on a grill or in a pan, if on the grill, heat it to high flame. If you are doing it in a frying pan, heat it on med-high heat with about a teaspoon of oil.
2. Slice the avocado or mozzarella and set aside. If you're using mozzarella, you can put it on top of the bread under the broiler for a minute to melt it.
3. Slice the tomatoes into 1 cm thick rounds, so they look like tomato steaks. If you're cooking them on the grill, brush them with oil and pepper (and dried basil if you're using it dry). Grill for 5+ minutes until soft and grill-marks appear, with golden brown/black edges. If you're pan-frying the tomatoes, fry for about 5+ minutes until golden brown with black edges. Season with pepper and dried basil while cooking, or just pepper.
4. Assemble the sandwiches, open-faced style with the bread and cheese/avocado on the bottom, followed by fresh basil if you have it, and then topped with your grilled tomato and some salt, and perhaps some extra pepper.
The vegan avocado version of this sandwich is amazing! I ate it for breakfast this morning on the Wild Oat's potato sage sourdough bread. I really like using avocado as a substitute for fresh mozzarella because it provides the same creamy freshness. It's also amazing what a little grilling does to bring out the flavour of tomatoes. I never used to like cooked tomatoes, but I think it's because they have always been over-cooked. By the way- you can definitely make this sandwich english-muffin/eggs bennie style and use egg instead of avocado, and add cheese too. I think it would be really delicious.
Now that grill season is almost upon us, I think I'm going to bust out a little portobello mushroom burger action! Since, I can't leave you with just one recipe, I'll leave you with this one too:
Grilled Portobello Mushroom Burgers
4 Ciabatta buns
4 Large Portobello mushroom caps
4 slices of smoked provolone or smoked gouda OR avocado AND/OR carmellized onions
1 Bunch of fresh, washed arugala
2-3 Cloves of Garlic, minced
Dried Thyme (optional)
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper
1. Heat the grill to medium-high heat. If you have a top rack for toasting things, makes sure you put it on.
2. Slice the buns in half and brush each side with olive oil and garlic. You can sprinkle a bit of salt to. The first time I made this I made a sort of garlic butter and used it on each side, which is amazing, but if you want a vegan version, go for the olive oil, and sprinkle a bit of salt for flavour, if you'd like.
3. Brush the mushroom caps with olive oil, any leftover garlic from the bread and lots of pepper. You can also season them with thyme if you'd like.
4. Grill the mushrooms 3-5 minutes on each side, until soft and juicy, but still meaty. Toast the buns until golden brown.
5. If you're making "cheeseburgers" add the provolone or gouda on top of the caps a few minutes before they are done to melt the cheese. And season with Salt.
6. Assemble the burgers, adding the arugala (and avocado or onion if you're going for the vegan version).
These are absolutely heavenly. When served with some fresh sliced tomatoes and cucumber, or a nice salad, they make a really great backyard meal.
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