Grilled Egg Salad (Seriously.... the eggs were hard-boiled on the grill!)

Grilled Egg Salad

It is during the hottest days of summer when I crave an egg salad sandwich. Somehow it seems unfair that egg salad requires hard boiled eggs which means a pot of boiling water heating up the the kitchen... Pass. I have experimented with pre-cooking and freezing eggs, and now understand how the the egg salad in those commercially prepared sandwiches get that weird rubbery texture. (Well there's an admission, eh?) In July's Food Network Magazine there was a page of photos of things you can grill. Veggies, berries, eggs... Eggs??? No explanation or instructions, just a picture of a hard-cooked egg and a warning to prick a hole in it first.

One night last week I gave it a shot. We were cooking burgers, and like every other time we grill the coals would be hot long after we finished our meal. I usually toss in a few potatoes to bake, and this time I added half a dozen eggs. I poked a hole in the end of each one, set them on the grill next to the taters, and closed the lid. I cannot be certain how long I should have left them there, but when I checked back in twenty minutes they were done.

After cooling on the counter for an hour, I placed the eggs in the fridge. The next morning, I peeled them. The shells were too brittle to peel neatly, so perhaps next time I will cool them down in a bowl of water. Inside the eggs were indeed hard cooked.

When preparing the egg salad, I did not bother with making mayonnaise in case the experiment failed. Instead I used three tablespoons of vinegar and a tablespoon of olive oil. Chopped green onion, a little salt... and there I had it! An egg salad sandwich on a day it too hot to cook!

With a bun bun baked on the grill the night before, I would have to say this was a pretty good sandwich.



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Another Great Burger....

Grassfed Beef Burger on Grilled Bun with Yukon Gold Fries

I am getting the hang of this outdoor cooking thing. Tonight we had delicious grassfed beef burgers on homemade buns (baked on the grill) and grilled Yukon Gold fries. The grown-up burgers were topped with frisee lettuce, grilled red jalapeño slices and fresh blue cheese dressing.

To get the job done efficiently, this order of operations works. (It did not hurt this time that Stealthy Dad kept the kids occupied.)

Grilled Falafel (vegan, gluten free)

Grilled Falafel  in a Grilled Pita with Easy Coleslaw

Falafel could be the original "veggie burgers." A tradition from Middle Eastern cuisine, falafel are generally deep fried to give them a crispness outside while staying tender inside. You can achieve that on the grill, too, making this a fun burger for cook-outs. I adapted this falafel recipe to make it gluten and egg-free.

Our boys really enjoyed these. The Cadet helped mix the seasonings and blended chickpeas together. G-man, who often claims to dislike chickpeas, dug into the final product with enthusiasm. When the older brother exclaimed that he liked these "burgers," the little brother declared that he liked them too. Thumbs up!

Homemade Pitas on the Grill (vegan)

Homemade Pitas on the Grill

What goes better with a falafel than a soft, warm pita? They make great summer tomato sandwiches, too. G-man and the Cadet prefer theirs covered in fresh yogurt. However you decide to enjoy them, they bake well on the grill, which means no heating the oven! (The original recipe for baking them in the oven can be found at Tammy's Recipes.)

For a dozen six-inch pitas:

Grilled Pizza

Grilled Pizza

Grilled pizza. That sounds kind of funny, but think about it for a minute: crisp on the bottom, slightly smokey, and a heck of a fun way to enjoy a kids' favorite without heating up the house with the oven. G-man and the Cadet love to help make pizza from scratch so we keep it simple; whole wheat flour makes a crust that is thin, crisp and easy to handle.

For a dozen, 6-inch round pizzas:

3/4 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp garlic powder
olive oil
8 oz tomato sauce, either unsalted canned or home made
cheese of your choice, grated and at room temperature
toppings of your choice

Today's pizza went like this:

Find a chef's hat, optional.

Choose toppings wisely. (Have a grown-up chop them up.)

Mix water, sugar and yeast.

Stir flour and garlic powder together.

Mix the yeast and flour until a dough forms.

Divide dough into balls and coat with olive oil.

After about fifteen minutes, form the pizza crusts: Pour olive oil onto a cookie sheet. Dip a dough ball in the oil and flip it over. Smash the dough into rounds, thoroughly coating it them with oil. Arrange them on cookie sheets for transport to the grill.

Horse around a little.

(The boys had to watch the next part through a window since grills are for grown-ups:)

Place half a dozen dough circles on the hot grill, and close the lid. After a couple of minutes the crust will have risen and there will be grill marks. Flip them over. Top with sauce, cheese and any other toppings you like. 

Close the grill lid and bake until the cheese melts.

Green Bean Fries on the Grill (gluten free, vegan)

Green Bean Fries on the Grill

Fresh green beans add a splash of vibrant colour to your cook-out plate. With a good, solid cast iron pan you can bake Green Bean Fries just like in the oven.

green beans
olive oil
salt, sea salt or "lite" salt

Wash, dry, and trim the end off the green beans. Toss in olive oil and lightly sprinkle with your choice of salt.

When the grill is hot, close the lid to evenly heat the interior. Spread the green beans evenly in the bottom of the  seasoned, cast iron pan. Place the pan on the grill and close the lid again. Bake for about ten minutes, open the lid on the grill, and turn the beans over. Bake for another couple of minutes until evenly browned. Remove the pan from the grill.

[If we serve these to G-man and the Cadet as a snack ahead of a meal, they gobble them up. As delicious as they are, they do not compete well against corn bread, potatoes, burgers, or other grill fare. Kids, eh?]



I shared this recipe with Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways and the Ultimate Recipe Swap.


www.stealthymom.com

Fries On the Grill (gluten free, vegan)

Yukon Gold Fries on the Grill

Want fries with that burger? If you are firing up the grill, you can make oven-style fries without heating up the oven.  All you need is a good, solid cast iron pan or skillet to keep the taters from burning on the bottom. (The one in the photo is actually the lid from a cast-iron casserole dish.)

potatoes
olive oil
salt or lite salt

Wash, dry and cut up the potatoes into whatever thickness you want as long as they are consistent. Toss the potato pieces with the oil. Sprinkle with salt before cooking if you wish.

When the grill is hot, shut the lid to heat the inside like an oven. Spread the fries out on a sturdy, seasoned cast-iron pan or skillet. Place the skillet on the grill and close the lid again. Bake for about ten minutes, depending on the temperature of the grill. (Ten minutes is good for 400F, if you have a thermometer.) When the fries are golden on the bottom, turn them over. The pan will retain a lot of heat energy so if you take it off the grill after about five minutes the potato pieces will keep browning on the bottom. That is pretty handy if you have other items to cook and want the fries to stay hot.

[Note: It is not a great idea to bake fries on the grill at the same time as cornbread. Opening the lid slows the oven-effect and the cornbread can burn on the bottom before it is baked. Don't ask me how I know.]


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Grilled Mini Peppers (gluten free)

Grilled Mini Peppers

Have you ever seen mini bell peppers? They about the size of jalapenos, but are sweet and mild. As soon as I saw them, I thought, "stuff them with cream cheese and throw them on the barbecue!" A recipe on the side of the bag suggested doing just that, but to bake them instead. Baking would be okay, but the smokey sweetness of a grilled pepper is a rare treat. Even G-man, who currently says he does not like peppers, snuck a few bites.

1 lb  bag mini bell peppers
8 oz cream cheese

Wash dry, and count the peppers. Cut a sit in each pepper lengthwise. Cut the cream cheese in as many cubes as there are peppers. (That is the fun part. I accidentally had a few cubes left over and had to eat them. Ooops.)

Place the peppers onto a hot grill and close the lid. In about ten minutes, they will be soft will grill-marks on one side. Done!

Variation: We bought a jar of hot pepper jelly from a roadside seller. I have no idea what is in it but adding a half a spoonful to the cooked peppers gave some heat to the grown-up's plates.



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Whole Wheat Corn Bread

Whole Wheat Corn Bread

Corn Bread is a perfect compliment to just about any entree cooked on a grill and makes good use of that time when coals are hot. All you need is a good, solid cast iron pan to keep the bread from burning on the bottom. If your covered grill happens to have a thermometer, you will find that handy, too. The trickiest part is to keep your family from eating it all before the rest of your meal is cooked.

Corn Bread mixes generally contain too much white flour for our taste. This recipe started as the corn muffin recipe from the Five Roses Cookbook but you might not recognize it. A good ratio of whole wheat flour and non-GMO cornmeal makes the bread tender and a little bit gritty. Molasses lightly sweetens the mix and gives depth to the flavour. When made on the grill it takes on a subtle smokiness, too.

One Fine Burger

One Fine Burger

On Sunday, we had the best burgers in town. I have to brag because some work went into them. It took months to get grassfed beef from the grocery store, and the oven fries were cut from specially-ordered organic potatoes. The home-made buns were still warm from the oven.

My point is that it is possible to eat a reduced sodium diet that is delicious. It is also possible to eat "real" food while keeping a tame budget. (We spend less per week than the USDA's thifty plan.)  The main factor is time. It can take time to source out quality ingredients, and often that means preparing ahead for a bulk purchase. It takes time to cook your own food instead of ripping open a package of frozen convenience.

Time well spent.

People like to say they cannot afford better quality foods or don't have time. A more honest thing to say would be that putting the time into meals is not a priority, since almost anything can be prepped ahead.  I remember the days when we would come home after a long day and commute, three hours before bedtime, and were in no condition to fire up the oven. Cooking and freezing ahead would have solved that problem.

I am in no position to tell people what to do with their time and money. I do know that the less we spend on processed foods the better we feel. I'd rather hang out in the kitchen than at the hospital any day.



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Grillin' Buns (vegan option)

Which is better, the aroma of a smokey barbecue, or of fresh bread baking? Both! Fresh off the grill, these flat little buns are great for burgers, cheese sandwiches, or as a dipper for hummus.

Grillin' Buns

Per dozen:

1 tsp sugar
1 tsp yeast
1/8 cup cup lukewarm water

1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup milk (or another half cup water if you prefer a vegan bun.)
1/8 cup olive oil
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt

3.5- 4 cups flour (white, or 3 cups whole wheat plus white for kneading)

Dissolve sugar and yeast in lukewarm water, let stand 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat milk to lukewarm and mix with warm water, oil, sugar and salt.

Add yeast mixture to the rest of the liquid ingredients. Add the first three cups of flour, one cup at a time. Turn the dough onto a board and knead for 8 minutes, working in as much of the fourth cup of flour as you can.

Pour a tablespoon of olive oil into the bottom of the bowl. Turn the dough bal around in the oil to coat the top and flip it dough-side up in the bowl. Cover with a cloth and let rise until double, about half an hour to forty-five minutes. If you are using whole wheat flour, knead the dough again after half an hour and let it rise for another half an hour.

[If you use charcoal, start the grill at this point to make sure the grill is hot enough when the buns are ready to cook.]

Punch the dough down and shape into a dozen balls. (I will split the dough in half, then half again, then twist each quarter into three portions.) To shape the balls, roll them in your hand, outer dough-in, as if you were flipping them inside-out. Pour a bit more oil in the bowl and lightly coat your hands. Quickly roll each dough ball in your hands to coat with the oil, re-dipping your hands as needed. The light coating of oil will keep the dough from drying out during the next rise.

Let the dough balls rest for 10 minutes. Next, gently roll each ball out to about 1/2 " thick, and place the circles on cookie sheets. Allow the rolls to rise until double, about half an hour. (If you double the recipe, place half of the sheets in the fridge to slow down the rising.)

When the coals are hot (or the gas is on) close the lid to heat up the grill like an oven inside. Take the buns out on the cookie sheets. If your grill has a temperature gauge, note that 450F internal temperature is ideal. Keep the lid down until just before you put the buns on the grill. You have to move quickly to get a good rise without burning the buns. Grill is hot, the buns are ready, you have a flipper and a pair of tongs on hand.... GO!

Open the lid, and gently place half a dozen buns on the grill. Try to avoid the middle and other "hot spots." Close the lid. After about five minutes, open the lid again and turn the buns over. They should look like toasted english muffins. Close the lid again and wait a couple minutes. The buns should rise quickly due to the high internal heat. You can move them around some to ensure they are golden on both sides. After you take them off, close the lid on the grill to raise the internal temperature again. Grill the next half dozen.

When you are done with the bread, put your burgers, veggies or whatever else you have to cook on the grill. The buns will soften up on the outside while the rest of the meal is cooking.

The buns freeze very well in a sealed zip-lock.



I shared this recipe with the Ultimate Recipe Swap- Grilling Edition.

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