Andrea Chesman - New Vegetarian Grill: 250 Flame-Kissed Recipes for Fresh, Inspired Meals

To a trio of great eaters: Richard, Rory, and Sam

The Harvard Common Press
535 Albany Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02118
www.harvardcommonpress.com

Copyright 2008 by Andrea Chesman
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by
any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage
or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America
Printed on acid-free paper

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Chesman, Andrea.
The new vegetarian grill : 275 flame-kissed recipes for fresh, inspired meals / Andrea Chesman.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN-13: 978-1 -55832-362-9 (pbk.)
1. Vegetarian cookery. 2. Barbecue cookery. I. Title.
TX837.C4542 2008
641.5'636dc22

2007046212

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Cover photographsfront, clockwise from top: Maple-Grilled Pound Cake with Peaches, ;
Mediterranean Mixed Grill with Aioli, ; Sweet Potato Quesadillas with Black Bean Salsa,

Cover photograph by Joyce Oudkerk Pool; food styling by Dan Becker; prop styling by Tabletop Props
Book design by rlf design

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Many people helped me in the development of this book. My grateful appreciation goes to Dorothy Rankin, who provided the recipes for Grilled Portobello Burritos with Jalapeo Sauce, Beet Packets with Balsamic Vinegar and Walnuts, Garlic-Herb Marinade, and Cilantro Pesto and was a valuable sounding board for my culinary ideas. I wish to thank everyone at The Harvard Common Press for helping to shape and nurture this book. The folks at the Middlebury Natural Food Co-op were all sources of help and information. Marian Pollack and Marjorie Susman gave me lots of ideas, help, and advice regarding grilled pizza, and their Orb Weaver Farmhouse Cheese and fresh vegetables were a constant source of inspiration. Finally, Richard Ruane, Rory Ruane, and Sam Chesman were steadfast sources of inspiration, frank criticism, and support.

I bought my gas grill some years ago in preparation for my wedding. About fifty friends and relatives were going to descend on my tiny log cabin in Vermont, and I needed a plan for feeding them a dinner the night before the wedding. A restaurant might have been a wise choicebut my little town didn't sport a restaurant. Besides, dining out wasn't in keeping with the homemade wedding we were planning. But dining outside was: A backyard barbecue was in order.

A week before the wedding, my partner and I patted out a couple of dozen bean burger patties, which we froze, along with some hamburger patties for the older "meat generation." The night of the gathering, the bean burgers won high praise. The hamburgers went unclaimed as my adventurous relatives got in the swing of the backwoods wedding celebration.

Many years later, the gas grill has been replaced after a heating element rusted away, the marriage has endured, and the bean burgers are still remembered fondly. But there's much more to vegetarian grilling than bean burgers.

Vegetables cooked on the grill develop a sweet and smoky taste that is irresistible. Because of the natural sugars present in vegetables, the dry heat of the grill causes the vegetables to form a caramelized crust, which seals in flavor and moisture. For more flavor, the vegetables can be tossed with an herb-scented oil or a soy sauce-based marinade before grilling. Even better, the grilled vegetables can be tossed with salad greens, blended into a pasta sauce, layered with polenta, or stirred into couscous. Grilled vegetables can be stuffed into pita pockets, dressed with pesto on Italian bread, or tucked into tortillas. The variety of great vegetarian dishes you can prepare on the grill is boundless.

The advantages of grilling vegetables are many. Foremost is the delicious flavor that smoke adds to crisp-tender vegetables. But beyond that, grilling is also fast and easy, and there's very little cleanup. I grill year-round, through the middle of winter, though I may have to shovel a path to the grill and allow extra time for cooking because of subfreezing temperatures. It's more fun to cook outdoors in the summer with friends nibbling on the appetizers that come off the grill before the main course. But whatever the circumstances, the food I take off the grill is special, enhanced by the direct kiss of flame and smoke.

The recipes collected here make for great eating, whether you eat vegetarian style all of the time or just some of the time, or even if you just want to create some interesting side dishes for a meat-based meal. There are simple recipes for every vegetable that adapts well to grilling, as well as more elaborate recipes, including recipes for pizzas, pastas, sandwiches, burgers, and salads. There is also a chapter of basic marinades and dipping sauces. The flavors are drawn from the cooking of the Mediterranean, Asia, and the Americas. If you are new to grilling, a chapter on equipment and techniques will help you get started, whether you will be cooking on a gas grill, charcoal grill, or even over an open campfire.

From there, it's a short step from the garden to the grill. Happy grilling!

I am not the sort of cook who needs a gadget for every occasion. I am slow to buy new equipment. So for years, I did fine without the one piece of equipment that makes grilling vegetables outdoors truly worthwhilean enamel-coated metal or a stainless-steel vegetable grill rack, which may also go by the name of "grill topper" or "grill grid."

While getting by without the special grill rack, I enjoyed grilled vegetables from asparagus season in May through the end of tomato season. I grilled slabs of eggplant and zucchini, which I then chopped and turned into ratatouille and caponata. I roasted corn and made veggie burgers. In short, I thought I was fully exploiting the possibilities of grilled vegetables.

Then I bought a vegetable grill rack and a whole new range of cooking possibilities opened up. What the vegetable grill rack does is enable you to cook vegetables that are already cut into bite-size pieces. Basically, it enables you to saut over an open flame. With the kiss of the flame, the naturally occurring sugars in the vegetables become caramelized, adding a new layer of flavor and texture to the foods you cook. Think of the possibilitiesgarlic-soaked, flame-kissed zucchini whisked off the grill and tossed with just-cooked pasta; soy-marinated broccoli and tofu lightly seared over an open flame and bedded down with rice; lime-marinated peppers and onions tucked into tortillas to make rich-tasting vegetarian fajitas.

Bite-size vegetables cook faster than large slices, and yet they have a stronger grill flavor because of the increased surface area that is exposed to the heat. Because they don't have to be chopped after grilling, the vegetables are more likely to retain their heat and texture as they are moved quickly from grill to table. Veggie burgers and tofu slices, which have a tendency to fall apart on the grill, hold their shape on the vegetable grill rack.

A grill rack also can be used to make pizza on the grill. The pizza cooks directly on the grill rack, which can be moved on and off the grill, eliminating the need for a baker's peel to transfer the loaded pizza. A grill rack is also wonderfully portable for campfires and barbecues at a campground. You never know what was on the grate over the fire pit before you arrived. With a vegetable grill rack, your food doesn't come in contact with the public grill grate.