Meatless Grilling

By default, when it comes to thinking about grilling, I gravitate towards your more typical fare – hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, etc. But as I find myself eating meat less frequently, I’ve had the opportunity to experiment a bit with what I throw on the grill. We all know I’ve complained in the past about my inability to make non-fall apart veggie burgers, which I’m happy to report is improving. Since that was never much of a success (the one time I “grilled” homemade veggie burgers, they never cooked), I was weary about grilling things like tofu, and tempeh. Alternatively, if you are interested in grilled meats, check out the best turkey injection recipe, for you and your family.

Over the last few months I’ve learned just how versatile tofu and tempeh are, and finally decided to bite the bullet and grill some. While I haven’t grilled tofu yet (it’s on my to-try list, I promise) I did make the easiest BBQ grilled tempeh sandwiches. There is really little to no thinking involved, and for those hot summer nights post work-out where you really don’t feel like turning on the oven or even thinking about dinner, this can be yours in no time.

I’m really looking forward to trying out some new things on the grill this summer, so if you have any suggestions, send them my way! But in the meantime, go make this.

BBQ Grilled Tempeh and Veggie Sandwiches
– Serves 2 –

Ingredients:
1 package of tempeh (I used Trader Joe’s)
1 medium green pepper, sliced into rings
1 large red onion, sliced into rings
4 Tbsp your favorite BBQ sauce, plus more for dipping and dunking
2 hamburger buns

Directions:
1. Preheat grill to medium-high heat.
2. Slice the tempeh in half as evenly as possible (they should be somewhat square shaped).
3. Coat each side of the “patty” with a Tbsp of BBQ sauce. Feel free to add more or less depending on your flavor preference.
4. Spray a grill basket with cooking spray, and fill with the onion and pepper.
5. Bring everything out to the grill, and cook the onion and pepper on the top rack while the tempeh is on the bottom rack, all for  10 minutes, flipping everything halfway through.
6. Assemble your sandwich with the tempeh patty, and onion and pepper rings. Add more sauce if you’d like, and keep some nearby for dunking!