Grill Fresh

I just love experimenting with foods on the grill!  This one tops the list:  Grilled peaches. I love to grill veggies... and now I can add fruit to the list. So delicious!  When grilling my veggies, I like to keep the seasonings and preparation simple.  I only use sea salt, black pepper and olive oil.  For fruit, I only drizzle a touch of olive oil. 

Here are the vegetables I enjoy grilling.  You may want to experiment with your own favorites. Enjoy! 

-Trudy

Eggplant

Broccoli

Zucchini

Green Tomato

Poblano Peppers

Bell Peppers

Onions

Asparagus

Mushrooms

Squash

Stuffed Peppers

This is one of my favorites!  There are so many ways to make stuffed bell peppers, but I chose the simplest path.  I wanted to see if I could keep all of the flavor with a healthier version, and it worked! Yum!  Don't let the word "healthy" misinterpret this meal! -enjoy    Trudy

1 1/2 c cooked brown rice
1 lb ground venison (lean ground beef if you are not a fan of venison)
1/2 chopped med onion
4 bell peppers (slice off the top and chop, save the "cup" for baking)
3 T bread crumbs
salt/pepper to taste
1 t cajun seasoning (I use Tony Chachere's)
1/2 t garlic
1/2 t oregano
1/4 t cumin
2 T EVOO
parmesan cheese (to top peppers before baking)

Brown your meat in EVOO(extra virgin olive oil). Add onions and peppers.  Season with all spices.  Add bread crumbs and cooked rice.  Stuff pepper cups with mixture and top with cheese. Bake at 350 for 45 min or unitl peppers look wilted and wrinkly.

Zucchini Lasagna

                                             (Not pictured: eggs, flour and spaghetti sauce.)

           This recipe is pretty easy. It requires a good bit of prep work but it only takes about 60 minutes from start to finish. It's also low-carb and has much less calories than your traditional lasagna.


Ingredients:                                                         

• 3 medium sized zucchini, sliced 1/4 inch thick (This part is a bit difficult but save your "ugly" slices for the first layer of your lasagna.)
• 1 lb lean ground turkey (You can use lean ground beef if you aren't a fan of turkey.) 
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 2 small tomatoes, cut up
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 egg
• 15 oz low fat ricotta (I used part skim ricotta. You could also use cottage cheese instead.)
• 2 c mozzarella cheese, shredded (I use 8 oz. divided. You can use any shredded Italian cheese mix if you cant find mozzarella.)
• 1 tsp flour
• Italian seasoning (This is an easy/cheaper way to season your Italian dishes.)
• salt/pepper/garlic
• 1/2 a jar of spaghetti sauce (I use this because the original recipe doesn't call for it and you will not have enough sauce, However I will use it every time from now on for a little extra zing! You could JUST use this jar of sauce but I actually really enjoyed the fresh tomato verses soggy jarred ones. Ha!)

Directions:

Saute zucchini in olive oil until tender, season with salt, pepper and garlic and set aside. Fry meat and onions until meat is brown and onions are tender. Season with salt, pepper, garlic and italian seasoning. Add tomatoes, paste, water and 1/2 a jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce. I like Bertolli's spicy italian.

Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered 10 minutes.

In small bowl slightly beat egg.

Add ricotta cheese, bag of shredded cheese and flour.

In a 9x13 casserole dish (sprayed with Pam) arrange half of the meat mixture. Top a 1/3 of all the cheese mixture, then a layer of 1/2 the zucchini. Repeat leaving the last 1/3 of the cheese mixture out.

Bake uncovered at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes.
Spread remaining cheese mixture. Bake 10 minutes longer.

Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Tah- Dah!!

P.S. This was even MORE delicious the next day!

-Natalie