Recipe of the Month: Herbed Grilled Veggies and White Beans

Now that Brian and I have almost completely given up meat, grilling season isn't quite the same for us. We can't just throw a few hot dogs on the grill, along with some accompanying veggies, for a simple meal in the summertime. We've tried various brands of veggie dogs, but none of them were really satisfactory. And veggie burgers — even the new, meatier ones like Beyond Burgers — just don't seem to grill very well. 

So, this year, the main thing we've been grilling is zucchini. Last month, however, Brian decided to experiment by adding some eggplant slices to the grill as well. He salted them beforehand and dipped them in a mixture of oil, garlic, and fresh herbs, using a recipe he found at Every Last Bite. Then he cooked the veggies until they were charred and served them up over a bed of quinoa.

This was sort of a mixed success. The eggplant itself was lovely — flavorful and melt-in-your-mouth tender — but it didn't seem to integrate all that well with the quinoa and zucchini. They seemed like three unrelated things on the same plate, rather than parts of the same meal. I found that it worked a bit better if I cut small pieces of the zucchini and eggplant and dished them up with the quinoa, but it still didn't quite taste like a coherent whole.

So the next time he made the same dish, Brian decided to mash up the grilled eggplant and dish it out over the quinoa like a sauce. He couldn't add a zucchini to the mix, since our plants have finished producing for the year. However, he knew from past experience that red bell peppers combine well with eggplant, so he decided to add one of them, dunking both veggies in the same herb mixture before grilling them. And when he asked me whether he should add some white beans to give the dish a little more protein, I suggested steeping the beans in the remainder of the marinade, so they'd pick up some of its flavor. So he soaked the beans in the bowl full of marinade while the veggies cooked on the grill, then tossed everything into a pan and cooked it together until it was heated through.

The result was a lot better than his first attempt. The eggplant, as before, was smoky, garlicky, and meltingly soft; the pepper was also tender but a bit firmer, adding a pleasant contrast in texture and a different, yet compatible flavor. The firmness of the beans gave it a bit more flavor contrast, as well as adding substance to the dish. And it all mixed nicely with the starchy, nutty quinoa.

If this dish had a weakness, it was that the beans weren't as flavorful as the rest of the ingredients. They didn't really soak up the herbs and garlic the way the veggies did, nor mix as well with the veggies as the quinoa. For future attempts, he might cook the beans and veggies together a bit longer so the flavors can blend more.

But even as is, this is a highly satisfying vegan dish with a good blend of flavors and textures, perfect for early fall. It's certainly worthy of printing in full:

Herbed Grilled Veggies and White Beans
1 (2 lb.) eggplant, peeled and sliced thickly (c. ¾ in.)
1 medium red bell pepper
1 15 oz. can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
¾ tsp salt

Marinade:
½ cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2-3 Tbsp fresh oregano, snipped
2-3 Tbsp fresh parsley, snipped
¼ tsp salt
grind black pepper

 

Quinoa:

1 cup dry quinoa

1 ½ cups water

1 tsp vegetable soup base (we use Penzey’s)
 

1. Spread the eggplant out on a cloth and salt both sides of each slice. Allow to rest for at least 15 minutes. Afterward, dry off the slices to remove any liquid along with some of the salt.
2. Mix together the ingredients of the marinade and apply to the eggplant (use a container from which you can scavenge any leftover marinade). Make sure the eggplant is completely coated. Also brush the pepper with plain olive oil.
3. Scrape the leftover marinade into a bowl with the beans and stir to coat. Set aside.
4. Set up the grill. Grilling over charcoal or wood is highly recommended (we use Royal Oak charcoal), as the smokiness is an important component of the flavor.
5. When the charcoal is ready, place the slices of eggplant and the whole red bell pepper on the grill. Grill for 10-20 minutes (this will depend on the grill), turning every 5 minutes, until the vegetables are well-browned (and before the eggplant falls completely apart). Remove the vegetables as they are done and place them in a covered bowl.
6. While the vegetables are grilling, you can cook the quinoa. Mix the water and soup base thoroughly, add to a pressure cooker, and heat on high. Add the dry quinoa, then put the lid on the cooker. When the cooker begins to sputter, cook for one minute, then remove from heat and set aside. (If you do not have a pressure cooker, you can cook quinoa by your preferred method instead).
7. When the vegetables are off of the grill, heat the beans and the remaining marinade in a skillet for a few minutes. This will give the pepper time to steam itself a bit in the bowl.
8. Remove the pepper from the bowl and dice it up, removing the stem and seeds as you do so. Add the diced pepper and the eggplant to the pan. Mix and heat through, salting to taste, then serve with the quinoa.