Meatless Mondays: Grilled Vege Hummus Pitas

It's been awhile since I've done a Meatless Monday.  I made this last week and really loved it!  I got it out of my Cooking Light magazine.  It's super easy, quick and super healthy.  If you haven't tried hummus or are a bit scared of it then you can always leave it out. I've listed substitutions at the bottom. 

Ingredients:
1 red onion, cut into 1/2 inch slices
1 red bell pepper, sedded and quartered
1 12 oz. eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch-thick slices
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
Hummus
Flatbread or pitas
Feta or goat cheese 




Brush each side of all the veges with olive oil and grill on each side for 3 minutes.  I did mine on a grill pan on the stove.  You can grill on a regular grill or even broil it if you don't have either of those options.

Chop all of the vege's into bite-sized chunks.

Combine the chopped vege's, 1 tablespoon EVOO, parsley and salt.

Spread hummus in pita and stuff with vege mixture and sprinkle some feta cheese in as well.

With the leftovers I spread 1 T hummus over a multi-grain cracker and added some vege's.  Delish snack that wasn't very high in calories.

I have only really started cooking with eggplant in the past year and this is a great way to use this veggie.  We've found that most vege's that my hubby or me didn't really like as children are really delicious grilled or roasted.  Grilling just adds a depth of flavor that you can't beat!

There are so many variations you can make, here are some substitutions if you are apprehensive about any of the ingredients:
-Mozzarella cheese for the feta or goat cheese
-Zucchini or summer squash for the eggplant
-Instead of hummus a vege or herb cream cheese spread

Happy Cooking!
-

Meatless Mondays: Portabello Pesto Panini and Homemade Pesto

We made up this Panini recipe probably 4 years ago? I love that it's super flexible depending on your tastes. I don't like cheese on mine, but Jordan does. I probably like more pesto than he does on his. It all comes together in this panini. If you want to try your hand at pesto I have included that in this post as well.


Ingredients:
Portabello Mushrooms
Red Pepper(s)
Pesto
Monterey Jack Cheese (if using)
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Ciabatta Rolls or Loaf

-We use 1 Portabello mushroom per panini and 1 red pepper per 2 paninis.


Get your grill heating on low. Clean your mushrooms - just brush them off with a mushroom brush or pastry brush and carefully remove the stem. DO NOT RINSE THEM! Portabello Mushrooms are super absorbent and water will ruin their texture and taste. Brush olive oil and salt & pepper on both sides of each portabello mushroom.

My husband always starts grilling the pepper first. Char on all sides on a low temperature. We have grilled at a higher temperature and ended up charring through the pepper so there was nothing really left edible to use.

Once the pepper is almost done then throw the mushrooms on the grill on medium heat. Place top side down (not the gill side). Maybe 2-3 min. per side. You don't want them charred, just cooked nicely.


Once the pepper is done throw into a sealed plastic bag for about 5 minutes. The steam will loosen the skin so it's super easy to peel off.

I cut through 1 side of my pepper and clean out the seeds. Lay it flat and peel off the skin. Here it's already skinned and see some nice char marks showing through-yum! I cut in half lengthwise and use 1 half per panini.


Ok the shrooms and pepper are off the grill and you are ready to assemble your panini. We usually use the Ciabatta rolls from Costco and just keep them in our freezer, but we were out so I picked up a Ciabatta loaf from Trader Joe's. It has lots of nice holes - which is great for a panini.

Slather pesto (jarred or homemade) on the top and bottom. I have definitely used jarred before and some are better than others so find what works for you!


Now assemble your sandwich. I assembled out of order for some reason here, but I usually put the mushroom on the bottom and then the red pepper. Either way works!

Now the shroom! Doesn't it look so good? If you haven't ever tried portabello mushrooms, cook them this way and they are divine. Jordan adds cheese on top of his mushroom/pepper stack but I skip that!

Add the top and put into your panini press. If you don't have a press you can improvise with a grill pan or even regular pan and weigh down with a foil covered brick or a super heavy pan. I've even seen it on shows where they put beans in a pan on top to weigh it down. In a panini press it doesn't take long - just a few minutes. If you are using a regular pan, just flip over and weigh down again after 2-3 minutes, once it is nicely browned.

Can you believe it gets this squished? So delicious and totally meat free AND filling!

Read below if you want to make your own pesto. It's super easy and for sure try it in the summer when Basil is abundant!

Portabello Pesto Panini and Homemade Pesto Printable Recipes

Homemade Pesto:
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese*
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts, lightly toasted
3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

*I read a lot of pesto recipes and there are so many ways to make pesto just like there are so many different ways to make salsa. I ended up using half parmesan and half romano. I like that combo myself, but you can use all parmesan or all romano. Besides those 2 cheeses I wouldn't substitute. They have good strong flavor and texture that makes for a good pesto. Nothing else really compares or should be substituted.

First take your basil and put it into your food processor.


Next add your pinenuts or walnuts that have been toasted.

*Pineuts are super expensive and walnuts are a great substitute. Toast over medium heat in a pan stirring so they get nice and brown, but not burned. It just adds a nice taste to the pesto.

If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.


Pulse a few times just to get combined.


Add your minced garlic. I had used 3 large garlic bulbs. Big mistake. It was too much garlic and I had to mellow the pesto out with more olive oil at the end. Make sure you use 2 if they are large or 3 medium (like the recipe says!).


Pulse some more.


Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula.


Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Makes about 1 cup. I used on our sandwiches and then in a pesto salad the next day. I can't wait until summer when Basil is out and about at the farmer's market.

Skirt Steak Sandwiches on Bacon Waffle Bread

This is another Rachael Ray recipe that I tried. I think next time I make it I'm going to make some tweaks, but overall it was good!


Who doesn't love bacon? Matthew could eat a whole package by himself just like his mom. He really is my kid through and through.


Today's Ingredients:
6 tablespoons Mayo
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons dijon mustard
1 1/2 pounds skirt steak, cut into 6 pieces
EVOO for brushing on the steak
6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
3 cups pancake batter
Lettuce
Tomatoes

Pancake recipe if you don't have a good one:
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons oil
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Mix together wet ingredients. Sift together dry ingredients. Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients.

This made probably about 4.5 cups of batter. I used 3 cups and put the rest in the fridge and made pancakes easy peasy for the kids the next morning. I was a little skeptical that it would work because it wasn't fresh batter, but it worked great and the kids loved it!


I would get your grill pan or grill heating up. S&P your steak and rub just a little with olive oil. Cook about 8 min. total for medium rare - turning once.


Get your bacon cooking. Once it's done crumble.


Juice your lemon. Quick tip - microwave your lemon for 30 seconds if it's coming right out of the fridge and then roll it a few times before juicing. This will help release more juice. I learned this tip from some show and I tell you it works like a charm!


Combine your mayo, lemon juice and 1 1/2 tablespoons mustard together for a spread. Set it in the fridge to use later.


Mix together your wet ingredients for your pancake batter.


Sift together your dry ingredients and then add to the wet ingredients. Take 3 cups of batter out.


Add your crumbled bacon to your pancake batter and 1 1/2 tablespoons of dijon mustard.


Mix together nicely and cook in your waffle maker.


Spread both sides with the mayo and then layer the meat, lettuce, and tomatoes.

To be honest, I didn't really taste the bacon in the waffles, but Matthew ate it up since we told him bacon was in the waffles. I thought the spread was ok, but I really don't love, love, love dijon mustard. Here are some alternatives I'm going to try for next time.

-Find a marinade for the meat
-Make a bacon mayo or buy baconnaise - here
-Leave bacon out of waffle batter
-Add bacon strips to sandwich
-Add sliced avocado to the sandwich

You could always treat it like a traditional BLT, but replace bread with waffles to mix it up. It was fun to make and it did taste good, but I'm going to try some changes next time to elevate it to the next level.

Skirt Steak Sandwiches on Bacon Waffle Bread Printable Recipe