As a part-time worker, full-time student, and volunteer I often find myself strapped for time when it comes to planning healthy meals during the week. For this reason, I came up with the grilled vegetable hat trick - three separate meals that all use grilled vegetables in different ways. Now, I only have to fire up the grill once to have delicious healthy fare for three days. Step One – Grill the Veggies I typically use an assortment of whatever is fresh and available. I almost always use red onion, peppers, corn, asparagus, sweet potato and Portabella mushrooms. You can also try zucchini, summer squash, tomato, cauliflower, eggplant, or whatever other vegetables are in season. The key is to grill enough vegetables so that at the end you have about 6 cups. For grilling, simply coat lightly with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook over a medium flame on each side until they develop the desired amount of char. Remove and let cool slightly before slicing into bite-size pieces. Day One – Summer Grilled Vegetable Salad with Lemon Herb Vinaigrette Combine lettuce (romaine or mixed greens) in a medium bowl. Add ½ cup cucumber (cubed), ½ a can unsalted black beans, rinsed and drained (save the remaining beans for night two), and sliced tomato. Top with 2 cups of grilled veggies and sliced avocado. To make the dressing, combine 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 tbs fresh lemon juice, 1 tsp honey or agave nectar and 1/4 tsp salt in a jar and shake vigorously until honey is dissolved. Add 1-2 tbs of roughly chopped basil and mint and shake to combine. Serves 2. Day Two – Grilled Vegetable Burritos Slowly heat about 2 cups of grilled vegetables in a medium sized saute pan. Spread 2 tbsp of hummus in the center of 2 large whole wheat tortillas. Add remaining beans, salsa (look for one low in sodium), avocado slices, heated vegetables and fresh kale or arugula. Roll tortilla into a burrito and garnish with non-fat Greek yogurt and fresh cilantro. Serves 2. Day 3 – Grilled Vegetable Pizza Place a pizza stone on the bottom rack of your oven and preheat oven to 500. Roll out a ball of refrigerated whole wheat pizza dough on a large piece of parchment paper until you form a large circle, using a little flour to prevent sticking. Pierce dough with fork and slide onto pizza stone. Cook for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and brush dough with olive oil. Top with fresh mozzarella, tomato slices or sauce depending on your preference, and remaining grilled vegetables. Cook for 6 minutes until cheese is melted. Remove from oven and sprinkle with fresh basil and arugula. Serves 2-3. Recipe originally published in the June 2014 issue of "The Eatatorial", the newsletter for California State University Los Angeles' Student Dietetic Association.
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