Meatless Monday with Grilled Quesadillas, Grilled Tomatoes and Fireman’s Corn

Happy Meatless Monday and welcome (back) to our blog. Miratel Solutions took the Meatless Monday pledge as part of our CSR business initiatives to support reducing meat consumption by 15% to improve personal health and the health of the planet. You can learn more about the positive impact of giving up meat just one day per week at www.meatlessmonday.com. Now let’s get to our recipe.

Today’s vegetarian recipes are perfect now that summer is here and the grill is fired up and ready to go. I know the words vegetarian and barbeque seem like an oxymoron but they don’t have to summon images of frozen tasteless veggie burgers. Today we are making delicious grilled quesadillas with a side of sage and garlic grilled tomatoes and fireman’s corn. These recipes are from “Primal Grill® with Steven Raichlen 200, the biggest, baddest, most comprehensive grilling show yet, with easy-to-follow instruction, close-up step-by-step technique sequences, and mouth-watering, in-your-face food shots” on PBS. Now let’s get grilling.

Grilled Quesadillas Ingredients:
* 8 flour tortillas
* 6 ounces Jack or Cheddar cheese, grated
* 3 to 4 plum tomatoes, chopped
* 3 to 4 fresh or pickled jalapeno peppers (red or green), thinly sliced
* 4 scallions, trimmed and sliced
* 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
* 3 tablespoons melted butter

Meatless Monday is one of Miratel’s CSR Green Business Initiatives: Grilled Quesadilla from primalgrill.org

Directions:
1. Place the tortillas on a work surface. Divide the cheese, tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, scallions, and cilantro leaves among the tortillas.
2. The quesadillas can be prepared several hours ahead up to this stage; wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate until ready to grill.
3. Set up the grill for three-zone direct grilling and preheat the hot zone to medium-high.
4. When ready to cook, place the quesadillas on the hot grate and grill until the tortillas are golden brown and the cheese is slightly melted, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Brush the outside of each quesadilla with the melted butter as it grills. Be prepared to move the quesadillas to a cooler part of the grill if they start to burn. Serve at once, either whole or cut into wedges.

Sage and Garlic Grilled Tomatoes Ingredients:
* 6 plum tomatoes (about 1-1/4 pounds), cut in half lengthwise
* 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
* Coarse salt (kosher or sea) and cracked black pepper
* 3 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage, plus 12 whole fresh sage leaves

Directions:
1. Brush the tomato halves all over with the oil. Season them generously with salt and pepper, then sprinkle the garlic and chopped sage over them. Press a whole sage leave in the center of the cut side of each tomato half. Set any leftover olive oil aside.
2. Preheat the grill to high. Arrange the tomato halves, cut side down, on the hot grate on a diagonal to the ridges. Cook 5 to 7 minutes per side. Rotate the tomatoes a quarter turn after grilling 2 minutes on the first side to create a handsome crosshatch of grill marks. Transfer to a platter or plates and drizzle any remaining olive oil over them. Serve at once.

Meatless Monday is one of Miratel’s CSR Green Business Initiatives: Firemans Corn courtesy of primalgrill.org

Fireman’s Corn Ingredients:
* 1/2 cup sugar
* Coarse salt (kosher or sea)
* 8 ears sweet corn in the husk
* 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted
* Freshly ground black pepper
* Cayenne pepper (optional)
Other Items Needed:
* Bags of ice (optional)
* Insulated rubber gloves (optional)

Directions:
1. Combine the sugar with cup of salt and 1 gallon of water in a large pot or clean bucket and stir until the salt and sugar dissolve. Cut off the stems and inch of the tip of each ear of corn and remove any protruding silk. Place the ears in the brine, stem end up. Let the corn soak for at least 4 hours or long as 8 hours in the refrigerator. If the corn wont fit in the refrigerator, keep it cold with bags of ice.
2. Set up the grill for direct grilling and preheat to as hot as possible. When ready to cook, place the soaked corn on the hot grate and grill until the husks are charred and blackened, 5 to 8 minutes per side (20 to 32 minutes in all.)
3. Wearing clean gloves or using a stiff bristle brush, strip the charred husks off the corn. Roll each ear of corn in the melted butter. Season with salt, black pepper and cayenne (if using) and serve at once.

This recipe for grilled quesadillas will serve four as a main course (which we’re using it as here) or 8 as an appetizer. It would make a great addition to any meal, so this would be a fabulous recipe to keep in your BBQ repertoire. The sage and garlic grilled tomatoes will yield four to six servings. The fireman’s corn makes 8 ears of corn. The corn will take 4 to 8 hours for soaking before preparation which may seem like a lot of time but it’s necessary and oh so worth it.

If you haven’t already, we encourage you to visit www.meatlessmonday.com and join us in taking the Meatless Monday pledge today. Spread the word at home and at work to promote CSR business initiatives and make your green call centre, office, factory, shop or salon even greener.

Happy grilling!