I know, I know: it seems like an oxymoron, but you can barbecue vegetables, and they taste great! Tonight I made Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s Perfect Grilled Portobellos–the recipe is on her blog Post-Punk Kitchen (a fantastic blog for all things vegan). I just halfed the oil and eliminated the liquid smoke: one, because I left mine at home in Vancouver, and two, because I read somewhere that it contains weird chemicals. Okay, it’s really just one, but once again, I know I should be concerned about chemicals. Anyway, here’s the recipe for the marinade, which I used for some zucchini, red pepper, and red onion as well:

1/2 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced

Marinate the portobellos and the rest of the vegetables for an hour or two, pop them on the grill for about three minutes per side. Yum.

I served them on top of a Mexican bowl (I have a heckuva lot of that rice left over from yesterday). The layers were

1/2 c Mexican rice

1 roma tomato, chopped

1/4 English cucumber, chopped

1/4 red onion, chopped

1/4 c black beans

Top with salsa and guacamole and serve with lime wedges, grilled vegetables and portobellos on the side. The one pictured here is the version I made for J, which contains a sprinkling of grated cheddar.

I also tried making the guacamole in the food processor and it turned out very well. I just threw 1/4 of a white onion into the food processor until it was chopped very fine, then tossed in three-quarters of an avocado, 1/4 c lemon juice, and about a half cup of salsa and pulsed it until it was chunky–very quick! I left out the salt because the more I read about food, the more worried I get about sodium. And I LOVE salt, so it’s a bit hard. When I was a teenager, I used to think that food wasn’t salty enough until I could smell the salt. I’ve either lost my apparently acute sense of smell or I was insane when I was a teenager because I have no idea what salt smells like these days. I just know I love the stuff.

The other thing that I’m supposed to give up is caffeine, but hell, if I’m giving up pinot noir (with only a transgression or two), I figure I should be allowed coffee. And with coffee I can stop after one cup. Okay two.

Actually, I wouldn’t mind a cup right about now….