Recipe: Vegan on the Grill
Cary, NC – All the cool kids are going vegan. I know, because my picky 16 year old has suddenly decided she can’t eat anything with a face.
Vegan on the Grill
Everybody likes grilling and chilling. Even vegans.
The challenge is to make something that’s nutritious and delicious for everyone in the family.
That’s why I decided to try my hand at Grilled Vegetable Burritos. This recipe is so good, you don’t even have to be a vegan to love it.
Vegan? Vegetarian? What’s the Diff?
Vegetarians won’t eat meat. But they will eat eggs, cheese and dairy products.
Vegans won’t eat meat, nor eggs, cheese and dairy. Vegans may also opt-out of lifestyle choices that could include wearing leather or any animal skin and avoiding products (like many cosmetics) that test on animals or use animal-based ingredients.
For this story, let’s stick to the food.
Ingredients: Grilled Vegetable Burritos
This recipe serves 4 people.
- 3 Bell peppers, sliced
- 4 carrots, slivered
- 4 celerly stalks, sliced
- 1 red onion, sliced or diced
- 4 ears of corn on the cob, boiled
- 1 can of black beans
- 6-8 tortillas
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cups of fresh lettuce, chopped or torn
- salt, pepper, chili powder to taste
Optional:
- Hot sauce
- Chopped fresh parsley, cilantro or basil
Directions
This meal is super-easy to make (and cheap, too!). Most of the time is spent prepping the vegetables.
If you use charcoal, fire up the grill. If you use gas, turn it on when you are ready to cook.
Slice the Bell peppers into thick strips (about 3/4″). I like using red and yellow peppers for a colorful meal.
Peel the carrots and cut them into tooth-pick sized slivers. The reason to cut them them into small pieces is so that they fully cook in approximately the same amount of time as the peppers.
Dice the onion (not too small). Cut up the celery. Add any other vegetables you like – garlic, shallots, baby zucchini, even endive. If you like it, give it a try.
Mix the cut veggies in a large bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper.
Heart the beans and boil the corn. The beans can simmer until mealtime. But when the corn is cooked (about 10 minutes), remove it to a cutting board. When it cools enough to handle, cut the kernels from the cob with a kitchen utility knife and serve in a bowl.
You will need a grilling basket or some sort of similar implement to grill the vegetables. Pour the veggies into the grilling basket and place it on the grill.
Toss the vegetables every 3-4 minutes to cook everything evenly and keep the food from getting charred. A little singed is okay, but charred is too much.
Heat the tortillas individually in a cast iron pan or on the grill, about 30 seconds per side.
Serve with the black beans, chopped corn and lettuce. Garnish with basil, parsley or cilantro if you like (I love basil, like parsley, can’t stand cilantro, but that’s just me). Also excellent with guacamole or your favorite hot sauce or Sriracha.
Happy grilling!
Story by Hal Goodtree. Photos by Nazmul and by Lynn Friedman.
