summer

Grilling Side Dish: Corn and Bean salsa/Salad

/ Bianca Mercuri / Leave a comment

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This is a perfectly light and tangy side for grilling this summer. This is also awesome on tacos or Fajitas or even alongside fish. This is such a versatile recipe that everyone will love. You can use frozen corn for this recipe (I did), although if you would like to use corn on the cob and grill it before using, that would work really well too.

Ingredients

  • Corn (frozen or on the cob)
  • 2 Bell peppers
  • 1 bunch of Scallions
  • 2 Jalapeno peppers
  • 2 Tablespoons of olive oil
  • 3 limes
  • 1 can of Navy beans or black beans
  • Cilantro (optional)

Spices

  • 1/2 tablespoon of Garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon of Chilli powder
  • 1/2 tablespoon of Oregano
  • 1 tablespoon of Cumin
  • Salt to taste

To make the dressing, start off by zesting your limes in a bowl. Then, roll your limes on the counter to loosen them up and squeeze the juice of all 3 limes into the bowl as well. Whisk in your 2 tablespoons of olive oil until emulsified. Add your spices and whisk until all is combined well. This dressing can chill out while you prepare your ingredients.

Next, cook your corn. If you’re using frozen corn, cook it in boiling water until tender and then let it drain extremely thoroughly until it is dry and cooled down to room temperature. If you’re using corn on the cob, I would suggest grilling it and getting a char on the cobs first.

Finely chop your bell and Jalapeno peppers. Then, on a diagonal, finely chop your scallions. Mix all your vegetables in the bowl so its all evenly distributed.

Drain and Rinse your beans and place in the bowl with your scallions and peppers and give it another toss. Once your corn is ready to use and cooled down, place it in the bowl as well and give everything one final mix. Pour the dressing over the salad and combine thoroughly.

I would suggest placing this salad in the fridge for about an hour to chill and let the flavours meld together better. I personally like to add some cilantro right before serving, but that’s totally optional. Once chilled, this salad is tangy and fresh and perfect to cut through fatty meat or fish and hardier sauces like sour cream.

 

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Grilled Tofu with Creamed Spinach and Sweet Potato Cakes

/ Bianca Mercuri / Leave a comment

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You can still get some use out of your grill if you’re vegetarian. In fact, the grill is an awesome way of adding some depth of flavour and smokiness to your vegetables and meat substitutes. In this recipe, I’m using smoked tofu because I think that it lends an extra hand with flavour. Tofu tastes like anything you put near it. It’s like a sponge. But at least by using smoked tofu, your flavour sponge will already be less bland! My serving size made an obscene amount of potato cakes so please adjust the recipe to how many you want. My measurements made about 30.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup of cream cheese
  • 1/4 cup of milk
  • 7-8 cups of spinach
  • 6 cloves of garlic
  • 1 onion
  • 4 large sweet potatoes
  • 2 tablespoons of ricotta or parmesan cheese
  • 2 1/2 cups of flour
  • smoked tofu
  • 1 tablespoon Barbecue sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Maple Syrup
  • 1 tablespoon Soy sauce
  • 1/2 tablespoon Ketchup
  • 1 tablespoon of rosemary or sage
  • 1 tablespoon of your favourite steak spice

Prep

First, peel and wash 4 large sweet potatoes. Cut into chunks that will cook quickly and place in a bowl. Next, finely chop your onion and garlic and place in a separate bowl. For the tofu, we’re going to marinate it so that it has time to suck up all the flavour. Mix together your barbecue sauce, maple syrup and soy sauce. Coat both sides of the tofu with your favourite steak spice (I used Montreal steak spice). Next, place each piece of tofu into the marinade and coat evenly. Place in the fridge until needed.

Sweet Potato Cakes

For the sweet potato cakes, you have to boil your sweet potatoes first. Cook them until they are super tender and slightly falling apart. Drain the sweet potatoes and place them back in the pot. Mash with your ricotta or parmesan cheese. This helps lighten the batter. Sweet potatoes are very dense, so the cheese helps make it fluffier. You can also use regular potatoes for this recipe, but sweet potatoes have so many amazing health benefits that I would definitely recommend using them. Gradually add your flour until it forms a loose dough. Season with salt and pepper to taste. I used rosemary in this as well, but sage would be just as tasty.

Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Use a spoon to create little cake type of form on the paper. Once your form all your cakes, place them under the broiler for about 5-7 minutes of until the top of them are brown and crusty, then flip them and broil again on the other side. Both sides of the cakes should be crisp and browned but the inside will remain fluffy. You can also preheat your oven to 425 if you prefer that over the broiler.

Creamed Spinach

Creamed Spinach is a traditional barbecue side dish. I wanted to lighten it up. First, I softened my onions and my garlic in a bit of water. You can use oil for this but I prefer to keep this whole meal as oil free as I can. Once the onions and garlic are fragrant and softened, add your milk and cream cheese to the pan. With a whisk, work the cream cheese and milk together until there are no lumps and the cream cheese is melted. Then, add your spinach to the sauce. Let the spinach wilt down all the way, then turn your heat on medium low and let it simmer and reduce for about 15 minutes. Spinach contains a lot of water which will water down your sauce. Reducing the sauce for about 15 minutes will evaporate the excess water in the sauce.

Smoked Tofu and Glaze

The last step is to grill your tofu. Tofu just needs to be cooked so that its warmed all the way through. I like a char on the top as well, so throw it on your grill and cook the tofu for about 1o minutes of until its warmed through the inside and the top is nice and crusty like a steak would be. Watch your tofu carefully so that it doesn’t burn. Because the marinade had maple syrup in it, the sugar may cause caramelization.

The sauce that it was marinating in makes a great glaze! Pour it into a pan with 1/2 a tablespoon of ketchup and let it come up to a simmer. The ketchup will balance out the sweetness from the maple syrup. Taste for salt and pepper. Once it’s come up to a simmer, take off the heat.

 

I hope that this recipe shows you that you can still have a classic barbecue without the meat! For all the vegetarians out there, you don’t have to stay away from the grill because you don’t eat steak or burgers. The tofu steaks are meaty and a great source of protein. Plus, the smokiness from the smoked tofu and the grill replicate all the flavours you love in a good barbecue.