Simple Grilled Vegetables and Grilled Veggie Pitas

Champagne brunch is one of my favorite activities…especially when I get to enjoy it with my three favorite boys, Terry, Timmy and Derrick (I’m talking local boys of course, love you Cousin Bud!!) I got the breakfast quesadilla, with the sour cream on the side, like always. Verbally ordering is not necessary, our waiter Dino, knows my order by heart. Whenever we indulge in brunch, lunch is the furthest thing from our minds. While spending some time in the pool with Terry, I perused the August issue of Cooking Light. I came across the recipe Simple Grilled Vegetables and knew I had to try but it but I also knew had to add meat to the meal so that it would not be too veggie-tastic for Terry. I created a spin off of CL’s Grilled Vegetable Pitas with Goat Cheese and Pesto Mayo. I basically used their recipe as a guide, along side I altered the Parmesan Zucchini Sticks recipe to make Parmesan Baked Onion Rings.

Simple Grilled Vegetables

Cooking Light

Ingredients

8 (4-inch) Portobello mushroom caps (about 1 pound)
4 medium red bell peppers, quartered
2 medium Vidalia or other sweet onions, each cut into 4 slices (about 1 1/4 pounds)
Cooking spray
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Preparation

1. Prepare grill to medium-high heat.

2. Arrange mushrooms, gill sides up; bell pepper quarters; and onion slices on a baking sheet. Coat vegetables with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with salt and black pepper. Drizzle vinegar over mushrooms. Place vegetables on grill rack; grill 5 minutes on each side or until tender.

Yield

8 servings (serving size: 1 mushroom, 2 bell pepper pieces, and 1 onion slice)

Nutritional Information

CALORIES 65(4% from fat); FAT 0.3g (sat 0.1g,mono 0.0g,poly 0.1g); IRON 0.8mg; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 26mg; CARBOHYDRATE 13.7g; SODIUM 127mg; PROTEIN 2.8g; FIBER 3.3g

Grilled Vegetable Pitas with Goat Cheese and Pesto Mayo

Cooking Light

Ingredients

1/4 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
1 tablespoon commercial pesto
2 whole wheat pitas, cut in half
4 leaf lettuce leaves
4 servings Simple Grilled Vegetables

1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled goat cheese

Preparation

1. Combine mayonnaise and pesto.

2. Spread 1 tablespoon mayonnaise mixture into each pita half. Stuff each pita half with 1 lettuce leaf, 1 serving Simple Grilled Vegetables, and 2 tablespoons cheese. Serve immediately.

Yield

4 servings (serving size: 1 stuffed pita half)

Nutritional Information

CALORIES 220(30% from fat); FAT 7.3g (sat 2.5g,mono 1.6g,poly 1.6g); IRON 2.1mg; CHOLESTEROL 7mg; CALCIUM 62mg; CARBOHYDRATE 33.7g; SODIUM 505mg; PROTEIN 8.9g; FIBER 5.8g

As I mentioned above, I used CL's Grilled Vegetable Pita with Goat Cheese and Pesto Mayo as a spring board in developing my own little creation. I grilled the veggies on an indoor grill pan, and we added left over Unbelievable Chicken to the pitas for protein (and to make Terry happy!) Instead of goat cheese, we used lite feta from Trader Joe's. I didn't have any pesto on hand, so I combined basil, lemon, garlic and store bought mayo together for a spread. I used the zucchini recipe to create onion rings, once this recipe is perfected, I will post it. As a whole, this meal was delicious! It is very versatile, I can picture adding steak, or following the original vegetarian version of the recipe. I would recommend giving this a try sometime in the near future while the veggies are abundant and fresh!

-Heather