Tag Archives: meatless

Grilled Sweet Potato Salad

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Vegetables are often overlooked when grilling. And with beer in hand, grilling is what I like to do on warm Sunday afternoons. So next time you throw those steaks on the grill, consider grilling some veggies to go with it.

I used to make this salad with red potatoes or yukon golds. Since going paleo, I decided to try it with sweet potatoes and it came out great. I used to add some honey to the vinaigrette but I left it out of the sweet potato version. For even a bit more bite (a little less sweetness) I might try replacing the cider vinegar with red wine or rice vinegar. For our non-vegetarian friends, may I also suggest some bacon?

Grilled Sweet Potato Salad

(Serves 4-6)

Ingredients

For the salad…

  • 4 sweet potatoes
  • 1 red onion
  • 2 jalapenos
  • 6 green onions
  • ~1/4 c. parsley + more for garnish
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper

For the vinaigrette…

  • 6 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tbsp whole grain dijon mustard

Instructions

  • Wash the sweet potatoes and slice about 3/4″ thick. Boil the sweet potatoes until they are barely fork tender. Don’t overcook them since they will be going on the grill. I think if I could cook a vegetable medium-rare, that’s about where these would be.
  • While the sweet potatoes cook, trim the ends from the green onions and peel and slice the red onion about 3/4″ thick. Don’t go too thin with them since all of this is going on the grill. I get about 3-4 slices per onion.
  • Prepare the vinaigrette by mixing all of those items well.
  • After the sweet potatoes have cooked drizzle all the veggies with a little bit of oil and season them with salt and pepper. Throw them all on the grill. Pull the green onions off after a quick char (that will go pretty quickly). Cook the sweet potato and red onions on each side until they have a nice char as well. Turn the jalapenos frequently until the outside skin is blistered and charred. The jalapenos, onions and sweet potatoes take about the same amount of time, about 6-10 minutes total.
  • After the veggies are done dice the jalapenos and onions. Cut the sweet potatoes into bite-sized pieces. Combine the veggies and dress with the vinaigrette while everything is still warm. Mix in the fresh parsley and serve while still warm or at room temperature.

 

 

And who says vegans have nothing to eat?

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BBQ Tofu, Pasta  Salad, and Roasted Butternut Squash

I was in the mood for a hearty dinner tonight. I had a strenuous workout at the gym (15 pound weights! 30 pull-ups! well, assisted) and I didn’t have time to eat much at work today. I thought this dinner was a great mix of healthy proteins, grains and veggies. It was filling, satisfying and, best of all, very easy for a weeknight meal.

Roasted Butternut Squash – I love roasting vegetables because the oven does the work for you. Butternut squash is especially easy to roast because not a lot of cutting and peeling is involved. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the squash in half horizontally, then in half again vertically, then you can halve those pieces too. Scrape out the seeds, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast skin-side down for 30-45 minutes. Delish!

Barbecue Tofu – This is also super easy and flavorful. Remove the tofu from package, cut into strips, and press out excess water. Preheat a grill pan and marinate the tofu in BBQ sauce (we prefer Dinosaur BBQ sauce) for a few minutes. When the grill pan is hot, grill for about 5-8 minutes on one side, flip over and grill for another 5 minutes. You can throw more BBQ sauce on if you want. If you’re a super grill master like Eric, you get the fancy grill marks like in the photo above. If you grill like me, the tofu will have funky brown streaks running through, but either way its pretty darn good!

Pasta Salad – I LOVE pasta and could probably eat it every day if given the chance. This is what happens when you grow up in an Italian family and that is all your parents ever feed you. Because I eat pasta so often, I like to keep it on the light side with a bunch of veggies. I always use whole wheat pasta. What I love about pasta salad is that it tastes fresh when you first make it, but it gets even better as it sits in the fridge and the flavors blend. In this pasta salad, I used:

1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup cooked peas
1 red pepper, chopped
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 lb whole wheat pasta

For the dressing I used a mix of homemade balsamic vinaigrette and 1/4 cup of Veganaise (not mixed together). For the homemade balsamic vinaigrette:

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
salt & pepper
(whisk all together)

Combine the veggies with the pasta. Fold in the balsamic vinaigrette and Veganaise. Enjoy!