Meat Free Mondays: Vegetarian Grilling

I come from a grilling family. For real. You will find any member of my family on a grill during the summer, fall, spring, and winter... But especially the summer. Being a vegetarian does put me in a unique place for grilling; the usual burgers, pork chops, and brats just won't cut it. That is the sole reason I have gone on a meat-free grilling search.

It may have started for completely selfish grilling reasons, but this search has led me to some fantastic recipes that I cannot help but share! Here are some of my new must-try veggie only recipes... The burgers and desserts will be coming later this weekl!

Veggies

Grilled Brussels Sprouts  

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I absolutely love Brussels sprouts. In fact, this sweet chili recipe is still made almost weekly in our house. Since the hubs may form a revolt at some point, having a new Brussels sprouts recipe up my sleeve is not a bad idea. This one uses lemon zest, salt, and pepper as the main ingredients. There are some other spices mixed in, but it looks incredible easy and delicious!

Grilled Cabbage Wedges

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These look incredible! Cabbages are high in fiber, have cholesterol lowing qualities, and help with healthy digestion. Add that to how beautiful they look on a plate and you've got a winning combo! These cabbages are simply cut into wedges prepped for the grill, and grilled. Add the slightly spicy, fresh cilantro lime dressing for a wonderfully refreshing summer dish.

Cilantro-Lime Veggie Kabobs

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Grilling is not grilling without a kabob. Usually, we keep ours simple with some sea salt and olive oil. But, I am willing to mix it up a bit for this yummy looking sweet and tangy marinade! These kabobs are beautiful alone, or can be placed atop the barley and kale salad shown here as well.

Meat Free Mondays: Easy Corn on the Cob

I found out about this delicious corn on the cob recipe about a year ago and have been dying to share/try it again! This recipe creates the most delicious, moist corn I have ever tried. It is so good, that I do not even use butter on it! What's even better is that this recipe is also the easiest recipe I have ever had for making corn of any type. ​All you need is your oven and some corn.

Ingredients

​​Serving Size: 4    Prep time: 5 minutes    Cook time: 20-25 minutes

• 4 whole corn husks. Husks should still be on
  

​Recipe

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Once heated, set corn directly on center rack in oven. Heat for 25 minutes, rotating halfway through. Remove from oven and let cool for five minutes. Once cooled, remove the husks.

To remove husks, pull the husk downward towards the stalk one layer at a time. When you get to the corn fibers, evenly hold onto the fiber ends and pull away from the corn with a twisting motion. This should remove almost all fibers at once. Having the husks pulled down makes it extra pretty and extra easy to eat. 

Meat Free Mondays: Roasted Carrot and Asparagus

This dish is extremely simple, but tastes great! The green of the asparagus mixed with the bright orange of the carrot make for some fantastic presentation as well. I would highly recommend ​getting carrots with the green tops still on. If this is not available, some baby carrots will do ok.

Carrots are loaded with vitamins A and K. In fact, one serving of cooked carrots gives well over the daily recommend value of vitamin A. Vitamin A aids in cleansing the body, especially the liver, of extra toxins and fats. Carrots also have a high amount of beta-carotene (of course), beta-carotene acts as an antioxidant and helps reduce cellular aging. The high amount of beta-carotene and vitamin A combined help with our complexion, keeping skin luminous and healthy. ​

Asparagus is also packed with fiber, vitamins A, K,  and C. Having almost all the recommend daily intake of vitamin K. Like carrots, asparagus is also high in antioxidants that help fight free radicals. Both carrots and asparagus have been found to reduce the risk of colon, lung, and prostate cancer. ​

Ingredients

Servings: 4    Prep time: 10 minutes    Cook time: 30 minutes

• ​1 pound small carrots, peeled with tops cut to 1/8 inch
  
• 1 pound asparagus, whole with the ends cut
  
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon chili flakes
• salt and pepper to taste

Recipe

Heat oven to 400 degrees. While oven is heating, peel carrots and mix all ingredients into a bowl, making sure they are evenly coated. Place carrot and asparagus mixture on an aluminum lined baking sheet. Roast in oven for fifteen minutes. Remove from oven after fifteen minutes and re-mix. Lower oven temperature to 325 degrees and roast for five to ten minutes or until vegetables are slightly browned and tender. Remove from oven, mix, and serve.

If you prefer, you can also cut the carrots and asparagus into 1-2 inch diagonal pieces. ​

This recipe has been modified from Martha Stewart and Epicurious ​

Meat Free Mondays: Veggie Burgers

When done right, veggie burgers are fantastic. There are a few ways to cook veggie burgers that I absolutely love, and some that are not so much my favorites. These veggie burgers top my must-eat list for those hot summer nights when a backyard barbecue sounds like perfection. Try adding some liquid smoke to any of these recipes to seriously kick-up that delicious grill taste! To make these healthy burger options even healthier, you can always swap out the bun for an English muffin, pita bread, or lettuce. Trust me, it will taste so good, you won't even miss the extra calories!

Mediterranean Burgers

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This Eating Well recipe looks fantastic and the ingredients list does not take learning a second language. ​Yes, the burgers take a bit longer to make than your average hunk of meat put into a ball, but these are much healthier for you. If you are having a problem keeping them together, try adding a little cooked quinoa. Both millet and quinoa work as a type of veggie burger glue to keep it all together.

Veggie Mini Burger Pita with Cucumber Yogurt Sauce

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You had me at cucumber yogurt sauce, the mini and pita just sealed the deal. This burger looks fantastic and is the perfect dish when you are wanting something both hearty and refreshing. ​Just to make these sound even more incredible, the list of ingredients includes fresh cilantro, chili powder, and garlic. Yum.

White Bean and Sweet Potato Veggie Burger

This white bean and sweet potato burger sounds like one of the most incredible burgers out there. The mix of the beans and the sweet potato make this burger a power house of nutrition. Add in the super simple recipe and we have a winner! ​These guys should only take a few minutes to cook, but you just might be able to fool people into believing they took all day.