Grilled Garden Vegetables

When the vegetables in the garden are fresh, they don't need much help to taste delicious.  I like to put them on the grill and dress and season them lightly. Most vegetables grill fairly well - as long as they're big enough not to fall through the grate.  Here, I'm using bell pepper, long beans and aubergine.

First, I like to coat everything lightly with olive oil and season with salt.  It tastes great and keeps things from sticking.  Then I like to get a good char on the peppers so that the skin slides off easily.  The beans and eggplant need to grill just long enough to become tender - not mushy.

Plate it up fancy!  So many vegetable dishes tend to be simply piled on the place.  Take a moment to arrange the ingredients to be visually appealing.  I like to serve it with fresh tarragon, basil and cherry tomatoes.  Then, drizzle a bit of aged balsamic and olive oil for extra flavour.  Happy Summer!

Roasted Red Pepper Alfredo

This was a surprising delight.  I found a red pepper recipe from Minimalist Baker (amazing blog).  I had red peppers in the garden.  I was inspired.

First, break down the red peppers and coat with olive oil.  Then, broil, roast or grill until the skin is charred.  This should help it slide off easily.  Mix the peeled red peppers with a few cashews, tamari sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, nutritional yeast and a bit of salt.  Cover the mixture with water and puree in a high speed blender.

Prepare a portion of brown rice pasta to just-before-al-dente.

Add the blender mixture to a hot frying pan with a shot of olive oil.  Allow to bubble and reduce until slightly thickened.  Then, add a scoop of the starchy pasta water and the noodles.  Continue to simmer until the pasta is finished cooking.

It's a very rich and savoury-sweet dish.  I love it!