First off, I know this picture sucks. I took about half a dozen equally bad shots before I got pissed and quit – so, there ya go.

What did not suck, thankfully, was this burger. I’m always on the lookout for unique/creative burger recipes because it’s kind of necessary to really kick things up a notch in the flavor department when you’re not using meat.  This burger is a great example of that.

I served this with Chili Lime Corn on the Cob and Sesame Asparagus, both of which complemented the flavor of the burger quite well.

Vegan Korean BBQ Burgers
Recipe courtesy of Cooking Light

Ingredients

1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 1/2 tbs brown sugar
3 tbs shoyu or soy sauce
1 tbs toasted sesame oil
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 lbs Match® Ground Beef
Cooking spray
6 whole wheat hamburger buns

Directions

• Combine first 8 ingredients. Divide mixture into 6 equal portions, shaping each into a 1/2 in. thick patty
• Place patties on a grill rack coated with cooking spray. Grill 6 min. on each side. Remove from grill
• Place buns, cut sides down, on grill rack. Grill 1 min. or until toasted
• Add lettuce, tomato, thinly sliced radishes or other fixins’ of choice and serve

Yield: Serves 6

We’ve been hitting the grill pretty hard lately since it’s been entirely too hot to cook inside over the past week or two. These puppies are the fruit of some of that labor and they’re pretty darn good.

We’re not even halfway through August yet, so there’s still plenty of time left to avoid your stove and toss these on the grill!

Balsamic Portobello Burgers
Recipe courtesy of Everyday Food via YumSugar

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for grates
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3 garlic cloves, minced
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 red bell pepper (ribs and seeds removed), cut into 4 equal pieces
4 large portobello mushroom caps, stems removed
4 whole wheat hamburger buns
4 lettuce leaves

Directions

• In a shallow dish, whisk together oil, vinegar, garlic, 1 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper
• Add bell pepper and mushrooms, toss gently to coat. Marinate at room temp for 30 min (or refrigerate, up to overnight)
• Heat grill to medium, lightly oil grates. Grill bell pepper, skin side down, until blackened, about 10 min., remove from grill
• When cool enough to handle, remove and discard skin, set aside
• Grill mushrooms, covered, until lightly charred and tender, 3 to 4 min. per side
• Place mushrooms on buns, top with lettuce and pepper and serve

Yield: Serves 4

I’m pretty excited about these.

I wish I could have gotten a better picture but there was a hungry crowd waiting! Andy and I made these as a father’s day dessert yesterday and they were dee-lish. I’m really glad to have discovered them because they’re a super simple, quick and relatively healthy dessert that he and I will be able to easily whip up for just the two of us whenever we’ve got a major sweets craving!

Most everyone else there enjoyed these with a bowl of vanilla ice cream, which I’m certain complemented the peaches quite well. Of course, you could opt for a scoop of almond or soy ice cream on the side but honestly, these are good enough to stand alone as well.

Grilled Peaches
Recipe courtesy of Sunset

Ingredients

2 tbs light brown sugar*
1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 fresh peaches
grapeseed oil (or vegetable oil)

*If you wanted to make these a full-on healthy dessert, you could sub maple sugar for the brown sugar. I’d only do this if I was just making one or two since maple sugar is SO ridiculously expensive.

Directions

• Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl
• Cut peaches along the seam all the way around and twist halves off the pit
• Brush cut sides with oil
• Cook, cut side down, on a hot grill until fruit has grill marks, 3 to 4 min.
• Brush tops with oil, turn over and move to indirect heat. Sprinkle cut sides with cinnamon sugar mixture, cover grill and cook until sugar is melted and fruit is tender, 10 to 15 min.

Yield: Serves 4-8

With Memorial Day just around the corner, I’m on the lookout for yummy ideas for the grill. Just in case you are too, here’s something you might want to try out this weekend!

Infused with the complementary flavors of chili and lime, this recipe is a nice twist on an old fave.

Chili Lime Corn on the Cob
Recipe courtesy of Sunset

Ingredients

4 tbs Earth Balance, at room temp
1 tsp finely shredded lime zest
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt, plus more for sprinkling
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
6 ears sweet corn

Directions

• Combine butter, zest, chili powder, salt, pepper and garlic in a small bowl
• Pull back husk from each ear of corn without detaching from bottom of cob. Remove as much silk as possible and fold husk back over ears. Soak ears in water for at least 30 min and up to one hour
• Drain ears, open husks, dry ears with paper towls and spread evenly with butter mixture. Fold husks back over ears and tie in place with kitchen string or strips of husk*
• Prepare grill for indirect medium heat (you can hold your hand above the grate only 5 to 7 seconds). If using charcoal, bank coals evenly on opposite sides of the firegrate, leaving a cooler center section. If using gas, turn all burners to high, close lid and heat 10 min. Then turn off one burner and lower others to medium.
• Grill corn over cooler spot, covered, until tender and charred, 20 min. Serve with salt

*They say that cooking these in the de-silked husks keeps the kernels moist and adds a nice grassy flavor (whatever that means). For less fuss, you can fully husk the corn and wrap it in foil. Guess which one I did?

I saved the best for last!

Here’s the final recipe in this week’s “Match”-themed posts. These chicken burgers are inventive, delicious and really great straight off the grill, piled high with guacamole and vegan cheddar cheese. The patties are equally good as leftovers, with or without the fixins. Either way, you can’t go wrong!

Match Chicken Burgers
Recipe Inspired by Health.com

Ingredients

1/2 tsp pepper
Cooking spray
1/3 cup Daiya Shredded Cheddar cheese
4 whole wheat buns, toasted
Toppings: chopped tomatoes, guacamole
1 lb Match ground chicken
3 tbs chopped fresh cilantro
3 tbs seasoned dry breadcrumbs
1 tsp salt

Directions

• Mix thawed chicken, cilantro, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper in a medium bowl
• Form into 4 (1-inch-thick) patties
• Coat grill with cooking spray
• Grill patties over medium-high heat 6 minutes, turning, until burgers are cooked through
• Top evenly with Cheddar, let melt
• Serve on buns with tomatoes and guacamole

Yield: Serves 4

I don’t know what it’s like where you’re at, but around these parts, grilling season has officially arrived! I find that people are continually surprised to learn just how much use a vegan can get out of an outdoor grill – being as heavily associated with sauce-covered meat as they are. Aside from old standbys like veggie burgers and hot dogs, grilling can be used to delicious effect on vegetables and fruit of all kinds!

This is a new recipe I picked up a while back that puts a yummy twist on basic grilled asparagus but complements standard grilled fare just as nicely.

The original recipe directions recommend threading two skewers horizontally through sets of 4-6 stalks of asparagus (one about an inch from the top of each stalk and one about an inch from the bottom) for easy handling and even cooking on the grill. I think they’re right about the even cooking part, but this turned out to be a little more trouble than it was worth. Feel free to give it a try or just place each stalk directly on the grill, as usual.

Sesame Asparagus
Recipe Courtesy of Cooking Light

Ingredients

16 thick asparagus spears (about 1 lb)
1 tbs Tamari or soy sauce
1 tsp dark/toasted sesame oil
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tsp sesame seeds
1/4 tsp black pepper
dash of salt

Directions

• Prepare grill to high heat
• Snap off tough ends of asparagus
• Combine Tamari or soy, oil and garlic; brush evenly over both sides of asparagus
• Grill 3 minutes on each side or until crisp-tender
• Remove from heat and sprinkle evenly with sesame seeds, pepper and salt

Yield: Serves 4