Randy's Grilled Shishito Peppers with Sriracha Satay...

Shishito Peppers, ever heard of ‘em? Yeah, I hadn’t either until my brother-in-law bought me Randy Clemens “The Veggie-Lover’s Sriracha Cookbook” for Christmas. I flipped through this book with amused interest at the variation of recipes that included Sriracha and then I came across the beautiful photo of grilled Shishito peppers and thought “Oooo, now that looks good!” followed by “Now what the heck are they?” A quick Google search informed me that Shishito peppers are a - generally - sweet, finger sized pepper from Japan. Interesting, I thought. The photo that accompanies the recipe is absolutely mouth watering and the Sriracha Satay Sauce it’s paired with is incredibly drool worthy. I’ve been dying to make this recipe since December, but didn’t think I had a hope in hell of finding Shishito Peppers.

Then last week my husband and I decided to make a spontaneous trip to the Japanese Market - Initially for noodles and miso - and what should I happen to find sitting in the produce department? A huge bag of Shishito Peppers! Wow, I couldn’t believe my luck. Not knowing how I’d like them, I grabbed only one bag with the intention of making Clemens recipe ASAP.

Boy oh boy do I wish I’d bought another bag of these peppers, because they were really fantastic and so unique. To me they weren’t quite as sweet as say a bell pepper, they had a slightly bitter edge - though I can’t be certain if that’s from the pepper flesh, the seeds, or the charring - but nevertheless I liked them. Once I started in on my plate I couldn’t stop until every last pepper had been drenched in Satay and consumed in it’s entirety, and that’s another thing, the Satay!

Look at that beautiful Sriracha Satay!

Now I love me some peanut butter anything, and I sure as hell love me some Satay sauce. In fact, at restaurants when I find a good satay and there isn’t enough food to dip into it I’ve been known to spoon the stuff directly into my mouth.- what? It’s delicious! - So I’ve had a lot of good satay in my time, but Clemens Sriracha Satay is probably one of the best I’ve ever had. It’s creamy, it’s smooth, it’s spicy, it’s garlicky, it’s sweet, it’s fan-freaking-tastic! It’s also not overly peanuty which might be a major plus to any peanut haters out there - my husband, a confirmed peanut hater loved the sauce.

One of the most brilliant things about this satay is that it’s made with coconut milk, that milk gives it an extremely rich, and velvety consistency, and the sriracha packs so much flavor but not an unbearable amount of heat. I also love that this satay is simmered on the stove and served warm, that makes a lot of difference in my opinion, and it’s so good that it would be perfect over any grilled vegetable, tofu, seitan, or tempeh. It would even be good thinned out as a dressing over a grain salad and some steamed broccoli. The Satay made a large batch so I can’t wait to get creative with the leftovers.

If you can find Shishito Peppers in your local Asian market, pick them up, give them a try and let me know what you think!

Grilled Vegetable Sandwich with Lemon Herb Sauce....

It sure is hot today, the heat advisory says it could reach anywhere from 105'F (40.5'C) to 110'F (43.3'C), right now it’s about 101'F (38.3'C). If it were to reach 110'F that would be record breaking for the Midwest! And yet there are still people out there who deny the existence of climate change, and the rise in extreme weather patterns. It boggles the mind! But that’s another post altogether, today I wanted to share a simple yet delicious recipe. Yesterday was slightly cooler with a high of 100'F (37.7'C) and the kind of balmy humidity that could suffocate a person. Heat I can do, but humidity kills me. Having grown up in a relatively temperate climate I just can’t get used to the stagnant, sizzling summers of the Midwest. During these extreme heat waves even though I live in a house where I’m privileged enough to have air-conditioning I just can’t justify using the stove top or the oven, not at least for very long. In this kind of blistering heat I don’t even want to eat cooked food most of the time, or if I do want to, I don’t want it to be piping hot. This is the kind of weather that brings a lot of fresh fruit to my plate, and a lot of salads, sandwiches, living foods, lightly steamed foods, and grilled foods.

Yesterday I found myself craving a grilled vegetable sandwich, and some potato salad, and so I whipped this sandwich up to go alongside the Spicy Blue Potato and Corn salad from Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s fantastic book "Appetite for Reduction" Seriously if you do not yet own this book, it is a must have, and if you ever see blue potatoes they too are a must have! Delicious, but the sandwich. At first I wasn’t sure, but after my husband and I messily devoured our overstuffed sandwiches, juice and sauce dripping down our arms I can happily and confidently declare this sandwich a roaring success! The Lemon Herb Sauce was pretty damn delicious as well!

Grilled Vegetable Sandwich with Lemon Herb Sauce

2 Red Peppers Sliced in half and seeded
1 Zucchini ends removed and cut in half width wise. Then each slice, sliced into four lengthwise pieces (You can peel them if you like, but if you’re using organic there is no need)
1 Medium sized Yellow Onion sliced into thick rings
6 Medium sized Cremini Mushrooms, rinsed, dried and stems removed
1 Tomato sliced
Lettuce (Iceberg, Romaine or whatever you have)
Pickles (optional)
2 Long Whole Wheat rolls

2 tbsp Olive oil
1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
1 tsp Oregano
½ ish tsp crushed Rosemary

1 Batch Lemon Herb Sauce (recipe follows)

- Place your prepared Peppers, Zucchini, and Mushrooms in a sealable container, and drizzle overtop the olive oil, vinegar, oregano and rosemary. Seal container and shake well for about 1 minute until all vegetables are coated. Then leave to rest and soak up the flavor for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. (During that time you can slice the rest of your ingredients, pre-heat your grill, slice your buns, set the table, and make the Lemon Herb Sauce.)

- Take your marinated vegetables along with your un-marinated onions out to your grill. Place your vegetables on the hot grill, peppers skin side down, the rest it doesn’t matter. Grill for about 5-7 minutes over medium heat, flipping once. You know the vegetables are done when you start to see those nice grill marks appearing. The onions and the peppers may take 2-3 minutes longer. Peppers are done when skins are black.

- Remove your vegetables from the grill, and place on a serving platter along with tomato and lettuce. Remove red peppers to a separate bowl and place in the freezer for a couple of minutes until they are cool enough to handle. Once able to handle them remove the charred blackened skins, then slice each pepper half in half again and place onto the serving plate.

- To assemble sandwich spread a layer of lemon herb sauce over one half of your bun, then layer on the red pepper, zucchini, onion, tomato, lettuce, and mushrooms. Drizzle with additional sauce if desired, or spread sauce over other side of bun. (If not using sauce feel free to use any combination of condiments from non-dairy mayo, to mustard, to bbq sauce. Or use the lemon herb sauce with a combination of those as well)

Enjoy, paired with a nice green salad, a potato salad, or some baked sweet potato fries or my sweet Cajun Plantains. The sandwiches are a bit messy I’ll admit, but they are sooo worth it. My husband and I were extremely blissful as we munched away.

Lemon Herb Sauce

1/4 cup packed dill
1/4 cup packed basil
juice of 2 lemons
2-3 tbsp white miso (to taste)
2-4 tbsp olive oil (to taste)
1-2 tsp agave (to taste)
water as needed (to dilute, to taste)
1-2 garlic cloves
sea salt and black pepper to taste

- Place lemon juice, 1 tbsp white miso, 1 tsp agave, garlic cloves, 2 tbsp olive oil, and fresh herbs in highspeed blender and blend on high until everything is well combined. Taste for seasoning, add black pepper and sea salt.

*** Note - The lemon flavor might be very strong at this point, which is why most of the seasonings are to taste. If you’re looking for a less tart flavor add in remaining olive oil, miso, agave, and a several tbsp of water to dilute and mellow out the sauce. Even with the additional ingredients you might think it a bit tart, but it really does pair beautifully with the grilled vegetables, so give it a try, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.***

Asian Style Veggie Skewers with Thai Almond Dipping Sauce & Red Coconut Curry Sauce....

Last Thursday I invited two of my good friends J & L over for dinner. Normally when I throw together these little dinners I have some idea of what to make, but for one reason or another last week I was at a complete loss as to what to make. I wanted something simple, yet elegant, but it had to be light. The weather outside was good, and I didn’t want to stand around a hot stove, and then eat a heavy meal that would just sit in the pit of my stomach all night. I’d been thinking of grilling, and I’d been craving sweet potatoes, pineapple, Pad Thai, and curry, all very strange things to crave at once I’ll admit, and with all those things in mind I came up with this. Considering I did it all on the fly without anything except my own imagination I was pretty impressed with myself, and my guests left happily sated. Along side the veggie skewers I served a Black Radish and Pea Tendril Salad with Asian Pears, and Red Bhutanese Fried Rice, both recipes will be coming soon. Trust me when I say this is a really great meal to throw together quickly on a summer evening.

Asian Style Veggie Skewers - Makes about 16 skewers depending of course on how full you pack them.

Skewers

2 medium sized sweet potatoes diced
4 medium sized carrots chopped into roughly inch and a half length pieces
1 medium or large yellow onion quartered layers separated
1 zucchini cut into medium thickness rounds or half moons
1 yellow crookneck squash cut into medium thickness rounds or half moons
1-2 cups pineapple cut into chunks
1 red bell pepper cut into chunks
1-2 Broccoli crown cut into medium-large sized florets
14 baby bella mushrooms

Marinade

1/8 cup vegetable broth
4 tbsp organic peanut oil
1-2 tbsp sesame oil
1-2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp agave nectar
dash of black pepper, ground ginger, and garlic powder

- Steam sweet potatoes and carrots in steamer basket until able to pierce easily with fork, but not mushy or too soft. 10-12 minutes.

- Place all vegetables in large sealable container. Or zip-lock bag (I used a snap-lock container) pour marinated over vegetables, lock container and shake till well mixed. Place in refrigerators and let sit 2-4 hours. Turning over once every 30 minutes to evenly distribute marinade.

- When finished marinating slide vegetables onto wooden skewers in alternating patterns.

- Turn grill to medium heat, and grill vegetable skewers for roughly 3-4 minutes a side. Remove from heat to a plate and serve with Red Coconut Curry dipping sauce, and Thai Almond Sauce.

- Note: If a few veggies get a bit crisp or blacken don’t fret, it adds a really nice smoky grill flavor to the vegetables.

Thai Almond Sauce

1/3 heaping cup Almond butter(or to taste)
1/3 cup lime juice (or to taste)
1/4 cup soy sauce (or to taste)
2 tbsp agave nectar (or to taste)
A few cracks of a black pepper mill
dash of ground ginger, and garlic powder
Cayenne pepper to taste

- Whisk everything together until smooth, then place in bowl and serve right away. You can also make this sauce in advance and keep it in the fridge until ready to serve

Red Coconut Curry Sauce

1/4 cup coconut milk (full fat) (or slightly more to thin)
4 dates pitted
1 tbsp lime juice (or to taste)
1-1/2 tsp Red Curry Paste (or more to taste)
dash of black pepper, ground ginger and garlic powder

- Blend everything in a high speed blender for roughly 1 minute or until everything is smooth and creamy. Serve right away, or it can be placed in fridge until ready to serve.

Honestly these vegetables skewers are so flavorful on their own that the dipping sauces aren’t really necessary, but the sauces do make great companions, and if you have the time plus the ingredients I highly recommend making them. You and your guests will not be sorry. I promise.

*** P.S.: I’m sorry there are no pictures of the sauces, it had kind of slipped my mind and by the time I remembered to grab my camera there wasn’t mush sauce left to photograph. ***

*** Note - Gluten-Free if using Wheat-Free Tamari Soy Sauce ***

Grilled Pear, Walnut, and Cabbage Salad

Grilled Pears are a revelation! I honestly can’t believe I’ve never had them before; but perhaps I should back track. Last week the weather was hot, sunny and beautiful. It was mid afternoon, I’d just come home from a swim and I was jonesing for a salad. Not just any salad mind you, I wasn’t interested in simply tossing some lettuce and sliced veggies into a bowl with a simple oil and vinegar dressing. I wasn’t a decadent salad, a scrumptious salad, a salad that begged to be ‘presented’ a salad that would have me gleefully sated all the rest of the day, and most importantly a salad that would impress my husband.

I pulled out the latest addition to my cookbook collection, Vegan Yum Yum, by Lauren Ulm, and gave it a quick flip through. Generally when I get a new cookbook I like to cook exclusively from it for a week or two to get a feel for it, and so far I’d only cooked one thing out of it. Her salad section isn’t very large, but what really jumped out at me that day was the Grilled Pear, Walnut, and Cabbage Salad. I did a quick check of the ingredients. Cabbage I had because I’d purchased a head on a whim a few days before. Walnuts I had in the pantry of course, and I had two pears left that I’d picked up the week before and needed to use quickly before they went off. Happily I set to work.

The salad itself isn’t complicated, it’s just that there are quite a few steps and it takes a good 30 minutes at least to complete them all. From whisking together the dressing, to preparing and grilling the pears, to sauteeing the walnuts. Once the whole thing comes together however it’s like flavor exploded in your mouth. My very first though was "How had I never eaten grilled pears before?" they’re so simple, yet delicious, and who would have thought they’d be great paired with simple green cabbage and walnuts? Really aside from poppy seeds and the dressing there wasn’t much to it, but man was it good. I ate two large bowls full, and it left me feeling exactly as I’d hoped it would. Delectably stuffed!

I highly recommend giving grilled pairs a try. It’s simple. You can marinate them if you want in a sweet salty sauce of your choosing. A few minutes should do, then grill them for about 2 minutes a side on medium heat just until they’re a bit golden and have grill marks across their flesh. Do it and I assure you, you will not be sorry!