Eating Fresh, Warm and Lite

It's winter.., and it's cold...sometimes it's easy to bypass the cold salad or cold vegetable plate, for me anyway.  I simply don't want cold in my mouth.  I do everything hot, hot yoga, turn on the space heater for extra heat while I'm lifting at home, sit in the sun for hours in summer, I simply LOVE THINGS HOT.   I was watching The Cooking Channel, a great source of inspiration for me, and one of the recipes was grilled vegetables with a spicy Avacado Sauce.

I decided to work on some recipes that incorporate great flavor, lots of vegetables, and warm foods.

To start this week, I'm so excited to share the recipe for marinated grilled vegetables with a fabulous avacado sauce. Later in the week, I'Il introduce you to some ways to eat warm "sandwiches" without bread.   I'll post some recipes with chicken, shrimp, and beef, some Asian flavors, some Italian flavors.  All warm and all incorporate an abundance of vegetables.

MARINATED GRILLED VEGETABLES with AVACADO SAUCE:


First the Grilled Vegetables

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, or sherry vinegar
2 Tbsp fresh basil or 1 TBSP dried basil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 TBSP honey
salt and pepper

Yellow squash, sliced 1/4 to 1/2 inch
Zucchini, sliced 1/4 to 1/2 inch
Tomatoes, yellow or red cherry, or small tomato whole
Button Mushrooms, caps only
** optional onions, carrots, eggplant, any of your favorite vege, experiment some veges taste different once grilled or pan fried, ...warmed!

AVACADO DIPPING SAUCE

1 Avacado, peeled and smashed
1 Cup light sour cream
1/2 jalapeno, seeds removed, diced
1 clove garlic minced
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice (optional)
1 TBSP minced onion (optional)
1/4 cup fresh dill (optional)

Put all of the marinade ingredients into a gallon sized ziploc baggie.  Add the vegetables, use your favorites, in any increment.  Marinate in the fridge for 3-4 hours.

Combine all the dipping sauce ingredients, there are many variations, just include what you like. You do need to have avacado and sour cream.... that being said, refrigerate in a covered container in the fridge.

Take out the marinating vegetables when ready, reserve the marinade in the baggie for future use.
Once you cook the veges, put them back into the marinade for extra flavor.  Then serve with the avacado dip.

You can cook the veges in a variety of methods.  

Grill:  Skewer and grill them for 15 minutes turning every 3-4 minutes.
Frying Pan:  Cook in a heated frying pan, layering them in a single layer, make sure the pan is hot before you add the veges.
Stove top Grill:  Grill them on a stove top grilling device.

Serve warm with the dipping sauce.  So very good and good for you.  I use these veges for toppings on salads, warms them up!!, for toppings on burgers, as a side dish during dinner,