Tired of vegetables yet?  Me neither.  This really should be titled: Vegetable Sandwich, but that sounded a little lame.  I thought Roasted Vegetable Slider sounded good, but I didn’t actually roast the vegetables and sliders are supposed to be smaller than this behemoth turned out.  Balsamic Sauteed Veggie Sandwich would have been accurate, but its got olive mix so I think Muffaletta is more descriptive.  Really, this sandwich is another meat-less, low fat yet delicious, fast, and satisfying way to eat healthily.

We have a pretty extensive history of heart disease in our family and my mother recently begun trying to follow a pretty rigid reversal diet.  Since I have her genes and some heart issues of my own, I have been trying to eat a lower fat, less-meat oriented diet as well.  For a quick lunch at my mom’s I wanted to put together a heart-healthy sandwich.   A portobello mushroom and some fresh spinach would be perfect here as well, but my mom didn’t have either.  She did have some delicious pretzel rolls but any crusty whole-grain bread or soft, toasted bun would be good here as well.  Click here for the recipe »

I think my favorite seasons are Fall and Grilling.  Luckily in Texas grilling season lasts for most of spring, summer, and fall.  Jelly?  You should be.

This is a great marinade for grilled vegetables.  I had a whole bunch of zucchini that needed to be eaten but this marinade would be wonderful on any summer vegetables you feel like throwing on the grill.  Just double or triple as needed to coat your veggies well.  Served alongside our famous fajitas and grilled corn.    Click here for the recipe »

One of the best aspects of our newly food-centric world is that we have so many categories of burgers.  We enjoy chipotle turkey burgers and Thai shrimp burgers and any kind of burger you can imagine-and none of them trying to be the same thing.  Real veggie burgers-burgers made of beans and grains and vegetables, not at all trying to be imitation beef burgers-are hard to come by.  Houston’s (now Hillstone’s) restaurant has a great one.  Consisting of black beans, brown rice, oat bran, and veggies, it’s not trying to be a beef burger.  Yet it is chewy and hearty and savory and sweet and so much more than just a veggie burger.  It doesn’t hold together in a perfect patty, with imitation grill marks, so if that’s what you are looking for then I suggest the freezer aisle.  I wanted to re-create this infamous burger and apparently a lot of other people on the webs did as well.  I found several recipes that gave me a good jumping off place and this is my interpretation from there.  It is a work in progress and if you decide to try them let me know what changes you make in the comments.

This is not a patty that holds together perfectly but it holds together well enough to grill, if you work carefully.  As written below it is vegan but many people add an egg or egg white to help it hold its shape.  The restaurant’s burger is vegan and I found that chilling the patties for a few hours before grilling helped them hold their shape without the egg.  A thick slice of Monterrey Jack helps it hold together as well (at least until you get it on the bun).  I used a 1/2 cup of finely diced beet which is clearly way more that the restaurant’s burger, and several testers felt the burger was too beety, so I have reduced it below to 1/4 cup.  Click here for the recipe »

I love summer food.  Abundant fruit and garden fresh vegetables, light meals, and no cook recipes-this is the way I wish we ate all year!  As a its-so-hot-the-thought-of-eating-makes-me-feel-sick meal this easily serves four.  As a hearty, warm winter salad I’d say it serves closer to two.  Whatever time of year you stumble upon this recipe, know that it is wonderful!  Creamy, crunchy, filling yet light, with lots of bright flavors: pungent olives, tangy lemon, bursts of sweet peas, and creamy mozzarella.  This salad is so versatile you could add capers and sun dried tomatoes, shrimp or chopped ham, or fresh basil.  I think the creamy, warm mozzarella goes really nice with risotto but you could use any tender-at-room-temperature rice to make this salad.  Click here for the recipe »