Grilled Veggie Quesadillas

One of our favorite family meals = Grilled Veggie Quesadillas. I can buy all the ingredients I need at Aldi on the cheap. In fact, this dinner usually makes it into our weekly rotation, no matter what. So, for Cinco De Mayo this year, I thought I’d get a few fun ingredients to kick them in overdrive. I also picked up a quesadilla grill basket for the long outdoor eating season ahead.

I guess I should note first that we loved this dinner so much, I actually forgot to snap photos of the finished product. Oops!

GRILLED VEGGIE QUESADILLAS

To make this dinner, I planned ahead. I roasted the following veggies at 375 degrees F for around 45 minutes. Of course, you can grill your veggies first and then assemble -- but weeknights sometimes require a little forward thinking if we want to cook out. I found it helpful to cut veggies into large chunks and then cut them smaller once they were roasted/cooled.

• Cauliflower
• Poblano peppers
• Onion
• Portabella mushrooms
• Use whatever you like, though!

From there, I had some small stone ground corn tortillas that I piled with a layer of veggies. I’ll be honest: I don’t think the tortillas I used were great on the grill. You have to like them almost chip-like crisp in the end. Kind of sharp. They still taste amazing, but when we make these again, I’m going to use softer flour tortillas.

Pile like so . . .


After the veggies comes the CHEESE.

I used a seasoned taco mix I found at Wegmans.


From there, add another tortilla on top. Alternatively, you can use larger tortillas, pile up half with toppings and fold into a crescent. Either way, you’ll load your into the quesadilla grill basket. Secure the top. I was amazed and how well it held everything in place. Brush with a little olive oil.

Then place on your grill --  you’ll want the cover closed -- for several minutes (around 5 -- depending) on each side until lightly browned. The cheese will be melty. The veggies nice and hot. Seriously, we started munching on one before we got everything to the table.

Slice and enjoy!


We served ours with some Roasted Tomatillo + Corn Salsa I made last August and had frozen. Also some Greek yogurt and lots of hot sauce. Next time I’ll be sure to snap a finished photo. If they last!

I can’t wait to cook our first pizza on the grill. Seriously. If I lived in a warmer climate, I think I’d be a much happier person. Being outside in the warmth and sunshine makes me feel like an entirely different person. I will certainly cherish these next several months until we’re in the deep freeze again.

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(Gas) Grilling Pizza

I love grilled pizza. It's been a long time (a LONG time) since I've written about our favorite BBQ food on the blog. In fact, the last time I talked about our process for grilling pizza was just after the new year in 2010. That's right. We make grilled pizza no matter the time of year or (frigid) weather. We've even made cheesy flatbreads on the grill -- I'm pretty much obsessed with grilling anything and everything.

We recently purchased a gas grill, and our method had changed. Over the years, too, we've picked up some new tips and tricks, so I wanted to revisit.

In the summer, we make grilled pizza at least once a week. Twice, if we're lucky. If you haven't had a chance to try it out yet, be sure to check out my recent piece for Wise Bread: This Is How You Grill Pizza At Home. It's a goodie -- and I don't get paid per click or anything to share my articles, so just go and read it! NOW!

Some additional tips from my home kitchen, er, patio:

• Use all white flour in your crust recipe. It promotes better gluten production and will mean less tearing of your pizza on the grill.
• Olive oil is your FRIEND, people. Lube it up. The dough and the grill. And char marks are definitely tasty, just remember there's a fine line between beautifully charred and horribly burned.
• You'll want all your toppings at the ready before you start. We often grill veggies for the whole week and just put them in little prep bowls for easy pinching.
• Experiment. One of our most favorite grilled pizzas involved brie and grilled peaches.

And I'll be sharing my new favorite crust recipe sometime next week. I have one more trial before it's perfecto. If you have a charcoal grill, don't miss our old trusty tips from 4-1/2 years ago (!). Seriously, once you try this at home -- you're hooked for life.

Also: Happy Birthday to ME! I turn 31 today (here are my thoughts on 30), and I'm celebrating at the beach! For more vacation photos, follow me on Instagram.


Like what you just read? Browse more of our posts + recipes on Pinterest. You can subscribe to the feed of these posts or follow us on Twitter or Facebook to be the first to know what the (never home)makers are up to. And we’ll love you forever!

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Grilled EVERYTHING

There's nothing we love more than playing with fire. Err. I mean, spending the entire day in our backyard grilling. As a result, we've come up with some pretty fun (and dare we say impressive?) recipes. Since the weather is looking good for the coming weekend, today we're sharing foods we'll likely be grilling for ourselves. They're sort of our go-to grill recipes.

If you'd like to grill your own pizza, check out this post with all the details.

Anyway, there's nothing easier that slicing some veggies, throwing them on a skewer, and putting them to flame. Even better is that it's healthy, too. So, check out these grilling recipes. And spend some time outside relaxing this weekend!


Grilled Veggies

Just get for your favorite veggies together (we like green peppers, white onions, garlic, and white mushrooms) and chop as needed. Slide onto some skewers . . . brush lightly with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. And grill, paying close attention so you don't overcook (by this we mean: don't let your lawn games distract you). Veggies are done when they are lightly blackened . . . and, in the case of the green peppers, aren't hard to chew through. Yeah. Test this by eating some.


Grilled Cheesy Flatbread

You'll need to make or buy some pizza dough (we highly recommend the recipe for pumpkin dough, which does well on the grill due to its high moisture content). Divide into handful sized pieces and stretch out much like you would a pizza. Follow the pizza grilling process you find on this post . . . but when you get to the toppings part, just use some shredded mozzarella and chopped basil or cilantro. When you're done grilling, drizzle everything with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. You may wish to broil in your oven for extra browned-ness.



Grilled Panini

This one's REALLY easy. Purchase some ciabatta bread. Then make sandwiches using portabella (you may wish to saute them first), fresh mozzarella, basil, spinach, roasted red peppers, tomato -- etc., you name it. Don't forget some condiments like balsamic and oil. Then lightly brush the crust with a bit more olive oil. Then wrap in tin foil and set on the grill. Get two heavy stones to press the sandwiches down. Cook for between 5 and 10 minutes. If you'd like to add a little extra char, just take them out of the tin foil and lightly brown each side. This creative method comes to you from my in-laws.

One more thing: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!


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