Who Says Vegetarians Can't Grill?

Okay, I might not be a 100% vegetarian, but probably 98% of the time I am, especially when we grill.  Most people will ask us, what in the world do vegetarians grill? So here is my blog to answer.  We try to grill once a week (every Sunday) during the warmer weather, here is a small breakdown as to what we have cooking in the Carlile back yard!

Of course you can always choose a Big Frank, Linkette, Grillers, Boca Burgers, whatever to be the main subject, but those things don't really take a whole lot of skill to "warm up" so I'm going to focus on some extras. This time we did a veggie dog bar - consisted of Linkettes and a ton of toppings for them.  (inspired by Sonic's new hot dogs) I made special relishes and of course the staples.

For the sides we did grilled veggies.  First off we did grilled sweet potatoes - incredible!

First, boil the sweet potatoes until they are tender the slice them, brush on some olive oil and place them on the grill.  Once nice marks are on both sides, take them off and top with a mixture of sea salt, cilantro, lime zest and black pepper.  The taste is out of this world!

Next we did squash.  Webers makes a great seasoning mix for vegetables (check it at walmart in the spice section) 

Pretty basic, coat with olive oil and sprinkle the mixture on then grill until tender.

Last but not least, asparagus is probably the best things to grill.  A little bit of olive oil, fresh lemon juice and some fresh cracked pepper make these things pop.  They don't need to be on long, just enough to be tender, don't overcook!

When you add everything together on a plate! It's just great! 

Look at that color!

For desert, this time of year is great for strawberry shortcake! Get a pre made angel food cake, cut up some fresh strawberries and add some cool whip! It's light but fulfills!

Make Your Own Baked Pasta

This dish was inspired by one of the MANY christmas presents I got Michelle this year, a subscription to "Food Network Magazine"  A really great magazine and a great gift, plus I get to look at food...

The issue was based on italian, and there was an article talking about baked pasta, so we decided to give it a shot.  It was quick and it was easy.  First off, choose your pasta and get it cooking. We used bowtie, some say it's over rated, but it worked great for this dish.

Next choose your vegetables.  We used baby portobello mushrooms, green onions, spinach and garlic.  In the summer you could use squash, zucchini, even asparagus.

In a large skillet, add EVOO and fresh chopped garlic, let simmer, but don't let it brown - it can start to get bitter if toasted too long.  Add the green onions and cook down, next add the mushrooms (quick tip: don't season the mushrooms until they are fully cooked, if you do it early, they tend to be over seasoned)

Sautee that for about 5-7 minutes or until the mushrooms seemed to be cooked well.  While this is cooking, get a medium saucepan and add a jar or even a jar and half of pasta sauce - your choice.  If you have the time to make your own tomato sauce, I would recommend it.  I think it would be that much better. We used the jar, heat that up and maybe add some fresh basil if you have some.

Back to the skillet, take about three large handfuls of spinach and throw it in there and let cook.  It will seem like a lot of spinach but trust me it will cook down.

When the pasta sauce has heated up, add a big spoonful of ricotta cheese. It gives it a nice creamy texture to the sauce.

Drain the pasta and add a little pasta sauce to it and add it to the skillet mixture.  Next pour the mixture in a casserole dish and pour the sauce over it.  Move the pasta around so the sauce gets all over it.  Next, cover with mozzarella and throw it in the oven at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese it melted.

Let stand for 5 minutes, then plate it up and eat! Enjoy!

This Is Me

When it comes to blogging, this is me... just plain lazy.  But the real reason is my work schedule. I just haven't had the time to cook, take pictures and blog.  By the time I get home it's well after 8pm and I'm pooped, so I make up something quick and really not blog worthy, thus the week flies by.  We are getting ready to have a set of meetings at our church for three weeks, so you can count on this... after the three weeks, you might hear from me.  As for now, I have a few recipes that I have documented and I would like to share them so you can try them.  They may not be 100% accurate, since it was made over the last several weeks.  I'm sorry, but enjoy!

Quick Beans & Rice

When we heard Dave Ramsey talk about eating rice and beans, beans and rice, Michelle and I took him seriously.  But it's because it's just so good! This is a staple in the Carlile household.  I would usually start with dry beans, but that will just have to be another blog post.  Tonight I made quick beans and rice, and I promise you, you will want to make these again! Easy and awesome. So here we go!

What you will need:
1/3 Red Onion
1/2 Green Bell Pepper
1/2 - 1 Jalapeño depending on how hot you want it
2 Cans of Red Beans
Goya Adobo Seasoning
1 packet Goya Sazon Seasoning
Red Pepper Flakes
2 cloves Minced Garlic
1 tsp Oil

First chop your onion, green pepper and jalapeño.

Then in a large saucepan, put the oil with the garlic and a splash of red pepper flakes and let sizzle, be careful not the burn the garlic. When the oil is infused with the flavors of the garlic and peppers, add the onion/pepper mixture. Cook until tender.

Add the beans and 1 packet of the Sazon Goya.  This little packet adds a ton of flavor. Really making this dish awesome.  Also sprinkle some of that Adobo seasoning as well.  Use it instead of salt. (to taste) Remember, when using canned beans, you automatically have a higher sodium level so you don't need to add much.  Let this cook for about 10 minutes or so, your rice should be finished at the same time.  I will need to post a blog how to make perfect rice every single time... no joke!

Once everything is done, put a bed of rice down, then the beans (make sure you get a good amount of juice with it) and Enjoy!

Stuffed Jalapenos [Warning: Addicting and Not Good For You]

Super Bowl Sunday is filled with food, also called the supper bowl.  It's one time out of the year you have the right to gorge yourself full of chips, dips, nachos, pizzas, and this year... stuffed Jalapenos.

This was actually thought up in the shower (where most of my awesome ideas come from) and it just sounded really good.  You might be thinking, how is this any different? You'll see...

What you'll need/want

Jalapenos - I made about 11 for a total of 22 halves
1 pkg of cream cheese
1/2 cup of griller crumbles
Shredded pepper jack cheese
Tabasco - Chipotle flavored
1 small can of green chilis
1 bulb of garlic, yes garlic.

First you roast the bulb of garlic.  Sounds fancy, but very easy to do.  Simply take a bulb and cut off the top of it. Wrap it in foil and put in the oven at 400 for an hour.  Your house will smell incredible.

Meanwhile let the cream cheese soften. Also, cut the jalapenos in half (wear gloves) and take out all the seeds.

Once the garlic is done,  place the jalapenos on a cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes, they should brown up just a tad.

Take the cream cheese and add the green chilis and mix together with the tabasco, just a splash of the stuff.  Gives it kind of a smoky flavor.  Next take the bulb of garlic and squeeze it from the bottom and it will just come right out into the cream cheese mixture.  Mix it up, smashing the garlic. Next add the griller crumbles and mix it all up.  Put the mixture in a ziploc bag.

Take the Jalapenos out and let cool.  Cut a corner of the ziploc bag (like an icing bag) and fill the peppers with the mixture and place back on the cookie sheet and top with the pepper jack cheese.  At this point you can put them in the fridge if you want to wait until game time (or eating time) when ready to eat, place them in a 450 degree oven until the cheese is melted on top (roughly 5-9 minutes).

Enjoy!

Curry with Chickpeas

Every time I open the door, I'm reminded I can't go anywhere because of the white mess that's in front of my house.  I've done work today, but there's only so much you can do from home.  Plus when the city is pretty much shut down, no one really answers their phone.   So when I'm bored, I eat, and think up things to eat.  Tonight's meal is simply that.  A meal conjured up out of boredom.  This probably isn't a traditional curry dish, but it's still good and super easy to make.

You'll need/want:
1 TsbOil
1 tspRed pepper flakes
1 Med. Onion
1/2 Green Bell Pepper
1 tsp Ginger paste
1 tspGarlic Paste
4 Tbs Mild Curry Paste
Can of diced tomatoes
3 yukon gold potatoes
1 large carrot (or 7 baby carrots diced)
3/4 cup of water

First you'll want to do two things.  Start on your basmati rice which takes about 25 minutes
Then cut up 3 yukon gold potatoes and several baby carrots. (or 1 large carrot) and boil to cook them.

Now for the curry part.
Add a tablespoon of oil to a large saucepan add a few red pepper flakes to spice up the oil.  Next add one yellow onion and half a green bell pepper. Let that cook down. Add one teaspoon of ginger paste and garlic paste (both found at an Indian food supply store) stir together and add a can of chickpeas.

Let cook for a bit and then stir in 4 tablespoons of mild curry paste.  Get a good coat on everything and then add the cooked potato and carrot mixture.  Add a can of diced tomatoes and 3/4 cup of water. Let cook for a while or at least until your rice is done. 

Top the rice and enjoy! Keep in mind you add or take out any of the vegetables you want.  If you eat chicken, you could do that instead of the chickpeas.  Whatever the case, it's got a good flavor and you'll want more of it!  If you've never had Indian food before, this is a great starter dish. Not too spicy, and not weird.  It's just right!

BLT or SSTA on Homemade Bagels

As you can see from my previous post, we tackled homemade bagels.  But don't just slather some cream cheese on these bad boys and that's it. Why not have some awesome sandwiches with these bagels? We had BLTs for lunch today. The snow just doesn't want to go away, so we're having another snow day today.  This sandwich is vegan by the way! Enjoy!

1 Homemade Bagel (See Michelle's Blog)
3 Stripples (cooked in skillet, none of this microwave business!)
Veganaise
Tomato
Fresh Spinach or Lettuce
Spicy Brown Mustard
Avacado

There you go, enjoy!

We Made Bagels!

Yes, that's right, bagels from scratch!

To see how, visit Michelle's blog!

Roasted Red Pepper Soup with Portobello Mushroom Panini

If you read my wife's blog, she is the ultimate soup maker in the home.  Really, the only soup I make is chili and that's not really classified under soup.  Chili is it's own category.  If you want to learn how to make chili, read down on the blog from earlier...

However, with the roasted red pepper soup, you must roast the peppers.  Michelle leaves that up to me, so I'm going to share with you how to roast the peppers for this soup, then you can hop on over to her blog to see how to finish it off. 

Then I will share with you the Portobello Mushroom Panini with red onion, basil and provolone cheese.  Very simple, but oh so good.

First off you will need 4 red peppers.

Take a cookie sheet and line it with foil, then drizzle just a little bit of olive oil on the peppers. Then with your hand, rub the oil all over the peppers.

Put the oven on "Broil" and place the peppers in the oven and wait.

Keep an eye on the peppers.  They need to turn black basically.

When the tops get charred, take some tongs and turn them. Keep doing this until the entire pepper is black.  It should look something like this.

I know, it looks like you burned them, but don't worry.

Immediately take them off the sheet and place them in a large mixing bowl and saran wrap the top, trapping all the air in.  This is called sweating the peppers. 

Basically what this does and helps the skins come off of the peppers.  Keep them in this bowl for about 15 minutes. Now it's the fun part.  Take the peppers out of the bowl and onto a cutting board.  Open the pepper up (they will still be hot, so be careful) take out all the seeds, the stem and pinch off all the skin of the pepper.  It should peel off pretty easily.  You are now left with a soft, sweet red roasted pepper!

Cut them into pieces and place them in the stock that Michelle will explain and blend it all together.

Next, let's talk panini's! I know I've already mentioned how much I love sandwiches and if you like mushrooms, this is where it's at.  It reminds me of the portobello sandwich that Panera used to have.  That was my inspiration.  First, in a skillet add olive oil and a slice of red onion. Start sautéing that down and add the portobello mushrooms.  They can be the big ones or the baby ones, doesn't matter. Once they are cooked down, add a splash of balsamic vinegar and fresh basil.  You can do the dried, but the fresh is so much better. 

Once they are all cooked down, remove from heat and add some seasoned salt (be careful not to over season, i've done that before, no bueno). I used Michelle's famous sourdough bread that she makes and put the mixture on the bread, put a slice of provolone cheese on top, closed the bread and throw it on the panini press.  And Enjoy!

Now go read Michelle's Blog!

Breakfast Burritos

It's not everyday you get a snow day. So Michelle and I made the most of it, and you'll be able to see our meals throughout the day. This morning we decided (well, michelle decided) that I would make breakfast.  Her request, breakfast burritos.  I said maybe quesadillas, but as I started cooking, what she said actually sounded better.

I started with half of a green bell pepper and about three slices of red onion.  With olive oil and some garlic I sauteed them up in a skillet.  Once cooked, I added about a cup or less of griller crumbles.  Meanwhile I cracked three eggs and added a splash of Louisiana hot sauce, salt and pepper to the eggs and beat them.  Then pushed the veggie mixture to the side of the skillet and added the eggs.  I started to scramble them, once they started to firm up, I mixed everything together.  Seasoned it with Adobo seasoning and Goya Sazon (secret ingredient for most mexican dishes).

Cut up some avocado and tomatoes and mixed them together with salt and pepper to top the burritos as well as some colby jack cheese.

Tasty... very tasty...

Enjoy!

Carlile Famous Chili

Yes folks, you've asked for it, so here it is! The Famous Carlile Chili Recipe!

Simply add some beans and some sauce with some other stuff and you've got yourself some awesome chili! Enjoy!!!

Spinach, Mushroom, Ricotta Ravioli

A couple of weeks ago we had a "cultural" night with italian food.  Aaron made homemade marinara sauce which was awesome and Michelle and Lindsey made the Ravioli itself.  I was in charge of the filling in the ravioli.  So basically I used the same recipe from the rigatoni blog and didn't add water to keep it thicker and put them in the middle of the ravioli shells.  Yes all of this was done by scratch.  It was a fun evening with some great food.  Here are a couple of pictures of the ravioli and the marinara sauce. Very big!

Spinach Ricotta Rigatoni with Balsamic Asapragus

The name sounds intimidating, but it's basically pasta with a sauce! This is a sauce that I made up as I went along, so I know there is room for improvement, so feel free to let me know what you try to make it special just for you.

I started by sauteing garlic and onion along with some Thyme and Italian seasonings (I don't measure, so you'll have to bear with me!)  I then added the rest of the portobello mushrooms I has leftover from the previous posts.  Once everything is pretty well cooked, I added the spinach.  I used fresh spinach (always tastes best) You can get a big plastic box of the stuff from Sam's for like 3 bucks.  Much better deal than the bags at walmart, plus it stays fresher longer in the fridge.

I probably chopped up 3 handfuls of spinach and added it to the pan, it cooked down quite a bit.  Once it starts wilting, add about a teaspoon of nutmeg or so, fresh cracked pepper and some salt to taste.  It should be a good base for the sauce.  Once it's cooked down to where you like it, add the Ricotta cheese.  Again, Sam's has a huge container of the stuff for 4 bucks.  (We plan on making ravioli sometime soon, so I'll keep you posted.)

Fold in the ricotta cheese with the spinach mixture until the cheese has melted.  (By the way, I have some rigatoni pasta cooking in boiling water while all of this is taking place) You might add a little bit of the pasta water to the sauce to make it a little creamier, it tends to thicken while you cook it.

Again, taste it.  If it needs more salt, add it, nutmeg or maybe even some crushed red pepper for some spice.  I even added a little Smart Balance butter.  It's a little healthier than the real stuff. It really added some extra flavor.  If I had some cream cheese, I may have added some to make it a little creamier.  But, it's probably a little healthier this way.

Once your pasta is done, drain it and add the pasta to the sauce and slowly fold it together.  At this point you can do 1 of 2 things.  You can 1) put it in bowls, and enjoy, or 2), you could add some parmesan cheese and put it in a casserole dish and bake it...  I went the route of #1.  But later thought of the latter, the problem is, I could see it getting a little dry if you baked it, so it would need something else to keep it creamy and not dry.

So there you go, an easy dish, probably 30 to 35 minutes total.

For the side dish, simply wash your asparagus, and place it on a cookie sheet.  Spray it with some olive oil pam, and sprinkle some lemon pepper on it.  Bake at 400 in the oven for about 20 to 25 minutes, just keep an eye on it.  Try one, if it's tender and good, take it out.  Then drizzle some balsamic vinegar over it, then place it on a plate.

Enjoy!

PS. watch out for Michelle's blog, something special just might show up later today! michellebreakandbake.blogspot.com 

Pizza

Not only am I a sucker for sandwiches, I love pizza as well.  I think since Michelle and I have been married we have only ordered pizza twice to eat at home.  We really like to make our own pizza.  It all starts with the amazing dough.  (yes, home made pizza dough) you can find the amazing woman who makes the dough (with the recipe) at michellebreakandbake.blogspot.com

Once you have the dough ready to go, you obviously know how pizza works. Add whatever you like to it and bake it. (20-25 min at 400) I will share with you what I put on this pizza this time around.

Arrabiata pasta sauce (I like it better than just pizza sauce)
Sliced portobello mushrooms (leftovers from previous post)
Diced green peppers
Diced red onion
Diced Jalapenos
Slices of tomatoes (seasoned with italian seasoning, salt and fresh cracked pepper)
Sprinkle of Mozzarella cheese

I am also a huge fan of ranch dressing with pizza, but I decided to spice things up a little bit.  I took some ranch dressing and added some chipotle flavored Tabasco to make a Chipotle Ranch dressing... incredible.

Hope you try it out and enjoy!

Philly Cheese Steak (Veggie Style)

I'm a sucker for just about any sandwich.  In fact, I've said in the past that if I could only have one genre of food every single day it would be the sandwich.  You can put anything between two pieces of bread, and it can be just incredible.  So many variations to a sandwich!

Tonight (after the longest day ever) I was craving a sandwich.  It's been a while since we've had the food network, but one of the sandwiches that always made me hungry was the philly cheese steak, so tonight I set out to make a vegetarian version of one.

Here is what you you'll need:
Hoagie bread
2 slices of Provolone cheese
1/2 green or yellow pepper
2 slices of red onion
1 1/2 portobello mushrooms (the big ones)
2 Tablespoons of water
1 Tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste


Slice the mushrooms and place in a medium high skillet with a tablespoon of olive oil.  Once tender, remove from skillet and let rest on a cutting board.  Add the pepper and onion slices to the skillet, salt and pepper them and add the 2 tablespoons of water.  Once the veggies are tender, add the balsamic vinegar, stir and add the mushrooms.

Meanwhile, slice the hoagies and place the provolone cheese on them and toast them in the oven.  Once melted, add the mushroom and veggie mixture and enjoy!

Michelle and I both enjoyed this sandwich with a bowl of soup. If you like mushrooms, this is a great sandwich, if you don't like mushrooms, you better stick with the real deal!

Morningstar Turk'y Burgers

As much as I love to make things from scratch, it's always nice to have a product to rely on when you just don't feel like spending a lot of time in the kitchen. Morningstar has been a part of my life since I was a boy. The breakfast patties and breakfast links went with me on the way to school for most of my childhood. So whenever Morningstar comes out with something new, I usually try it. Sometimes I am impressed, other times I've been very disappointed.

The last time we were at he grocery store, Michelle really wanted to purchase these. I'm usually not a fan of "specialty veggie burgers" out there. In my opinion it's hard to beat a good "Griller," so with hesitation I said yes. Today was the day...

I know that I don't need to go through the process of making a burger, I'm pretty sure you can handle that part. Here is what I did to make it just a little bit unique.

I used colby jack cheese to top the burgers, as well as diced jalapenos, spicy brown mustard tomatoes and spring mix lettuce. Make sure to lightly toast the bun (always).

Again, as I said, it's hard to beat a good Morningstar griller, but I would say their turk'y burger is pretty good. If I put Griller as the standard of 10, I would put this burger at about an 8. It has a good texture and no weird after taste like some veggie burgers out there. The patties look nothing like it does on the box, so don't let that scare you. When I remake these, I will probably add a Morningstar breakfast strip (stripple) and some avocado slices.

If you like veggie burgers, and are used to eating them, I think you will really like these. Enjoy!