Holy mother of PEARL it is hot out. I love summer, but it’s getting kind of ridiculous here in New England.. The last thing you want to do in weather like this is turn on the stove, which means only one thing: GRILL GRILL GRILL. It’s so important to have a good veggie-burger recipe as a vegetarian. Not only are they super healthy, but they’re SO cheap and easy to make. Not to mention freaking delicious.

1 16 oz. can black beans, drained and washed
1 16 oz. can pinto beans, drained and washed
2-3 slices of bread, torn into pieces.
1 small onion, chopped
2 tbs. cumin
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
Handful fresh parsley, chopped
2 tbs. vegetable or olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

In a medium skillet, heat oil and add onions. Cook until translucent then set aside to cool. In the meantime, add all ingredients to a large bowl. Add cooled onions, then mash all ingredients together (this is accomplished best by using your hands). Once completely combined, form into 5 medium or 4 large burgers. Cook on grill or stove until crispy on the outside and warmed throughout.

Note for making the best burgers: These were pretty darn good! If you’re having trouble with them sticking together, slowly add water (a tablespoon at a time) until everything sticks together properly. It would be REALLY delicious to add some corn to these! I’m definitely trying that next time…

I’d most definitely be vegan if it weren’t for eggs… they’re one of my favorite foods on earth. Scrambled, over-easy, sunny side up, poached… whatever form, I LOVE THEM. Birds in a basket is one of the neatest and cutest ways to serve eggs and I should know, I eat them like this at least once a week.

2 eggs
2 pieces of your favorite bread
Butter for spreading
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a large non-stick skillet on medium-low. In the meantime using a cookie cutter or anything with a sharp edge, cut the center of each piece of bread out (about 2″ in circumference). Butter both sides of each slice then place in the skillet. Crack each egg, one at a time, then place in each of the holes. Let cook until the whites are almost completely cooked, then flip and cook for less than a minute. Transfer to your plate and enjoy!

Note for making the best birds: YUMMMM. I love eggs and cute things so this is perfect for me. NEAT THING: save your bread cut-outs for toast to eat with the eggs! Although this does look kind of easy, it actually requires a little practice (so if you’re looking to impress someone, I’d suggest trying it a few times before showing them the big guns). Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper (and cover in ketchup if you’re like me) and you’ve got yourself the best breakfast in bed. I can already hear them swooning for you.

I really am afraid of grilling things. The idea of an open flame and lots of heat and gasoline and burning and flare ups just doesn’t sit well with me. I’d rather just bypass the whole thing and cook stuff indoors. But of course it’s summer and the whole point of doing ABD was to try new things. So, here I am, outside of my parents house, trying to light the grill. If I end up loosing an eyebrow I’m going to hate myself (and you).

1 batch of your favorite pizza dough (my recipe here)
1 batch of your favorite pesto (come back and visit next week *WINK*)
Handful baby spinach
Handful black olives
10 oz. package mozzarella cheese, shredded or cut into slices
Olive oil for spreading

Turn your grill onto medium, then let come to temperature for at least 10 minutes. In the meantime, spread out your dough using olive oil until it’s the desired size. Once your grill is hot, place dough carefully across. Close and let cook for 5 minutes, then flip and let the other size cook for 3 more minutes. Remove from grill, add toppings, then place back on grill. Once the toppings are cooked and cheese is melted, remove and enjoy!

Note for making the perfect grilled pizza: HOLY CRAP YOU GUYS, I NEVER WANT A REGULAR PIZZA AGAIN. This was so crunchy and smokey and delicious! And ridiculously easy… It’s so much faster than cooking in the oven, too. Make sure you heavily oil the crust so that it doesn’t stick! Also, you always have to keep an eye on it; it’s not something you can really just throw on and do other things while cooking. Other than that, I’m completely sold…

HI MEMORIAL DAY. You know what that means? B-B-Q! BURGERS! SUMMERTIME! I love this nice weather, and I love it even more when I have awesome sweet potato fries to spend it with. Dip them in a nice spicy mayo and you’ve got yourself quite the addition to your summer.

2 sweet potatoes, washed and cut into 1/4″ wedges
2 tbs. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. paprika
3 tbs. olive oil

Spicy Aioli:
1 c. mayonnaise
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. white pepper
1 tsp. cumin
Handful fresh parsley chopped

Preheat oven to 450 degrees and grab a sheet pan. Cover sweet potato fries in olive oil, then sprinkle with salt, garlic, pepper and paprika mixture. Toss once more, then place in oven for 10-15 minutes. In the meantime mix together all ingredients for aioli and set aside. Once sweet potatoes are soft but crispy on the outside, remove from oven and let cool until ready to serve!

Note for making superb sweet potato fries: YUM GUYS, REALLY. I love sweet potatoes with the spicy/salty aioli (not that it has anything to do with how delicious mayo is). Sometimes people dip them in ridiculous maple syrup sauces and it makes me want to die!! THEY’RE SWEET ENOUGH ALREADY! GAHD! I stole the seasoning mixture from Paula Deen, who is a god in my eyes. Surprisingly this has no butter in it…

Sometimes all you need in life is a good asian dumpling… and with being vegetarian, that can be really difficult. Most steamed pot-stickers have LOTS AND LOTS of pork in them. Actually, they’re traditionally made with just pork and spices. SO YEAH… screw that.

1 16 oz. package sliced button mushrooms
1/2 c. carrots, thinly chopped
1 green onion, chopped
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
3 tbs. soy sauce
2 tbs. sesame oil
1/2 package wonton wrappers (you can find them right near the tofu)

1 +/- c. vegetable stock and extra sesame oil for frying

Heat a large skillet with sesame oil. Cook mushrooms and carrots in soy sauce, red pepper flakes and oil until they break down (about 8 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in green onions. Transfer to a cutting board, chop mixture until fine, then let cool. Set out 4 wonton wrappers at a time and place a teaspoon of mixture in center. Using your finger, line edges with water then pinch and fold like an accordion (see above picture, I can never explain these things). Once all are filled and sealed, heat another skillet with oil until almost smoking. Have a lid on hand. Place dumplings in pan and let sizzle until the bottoms are brown. Quickly add a splash of vegetable stock, then cover with lid. Let dumplings cook for about 2 minutes, then remove from skillet. Repeat with next batch until all are cooked!

Note for making perfect pot-stickers: YUMMM. These satisfied my craving. Chewy and crispy and everything a vegetarian could ever want. It’s relatively important that you get sesame oil for this because of its DELICIOUS and nutty flavor. Serve with a neat sauce of soy sauce, a little brown sugar and green onions! WEEEW.

OKAY SOOOO I know black beans are boring. But really, it’s an important recipe to have… What if you want to make a burrito one day? Or enchiladas? Or what if you have some rice lying around and you want a simple dinner? Black beans don’t make themselves delicious, people.

1 16 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 small shallots, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
Handful fresh parsley leaves, chopped (you could also use cilantro)
1/2-3/4 c. vegetable stock
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tbs. oil (vegetable, olive.. whatever you have)
1 tsp. salt

Heat a large skillet to medium high, then add oil and bring to temperature. Add shallots and garlic. Once translucent, add black beans and vegetable stock. Using a fork or some sort of squisher, mash beans until they’re your desired consistency (I like mine chunky). Add cayenne, cumin and salt, and let reduce for a few minutes (use more vegetable stock if you need too!). Lastly, fold in fresh chopped parsley. Serve immediately!

Note for making the best beans: These are pretty good! Whenever I try and cook beans, I just kind of throw in whatever in and they never turn out that great. It’s nice to have a go-to recipe to follow! I served mine on rice with sour cream and a side of mashed sweet potato… HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

I’m not sure where I got the desire to make fish tacos, but I apparently did so here they are. TO CLEAR UP SOME CONFUSION: although I’m a vegetarian, I do eat fish from time to time. Ever have a bad day and you just feel like killing something? WELL those are the days I just feel like eating fish! Don’t get it? Ah, well I don’t care. ONWARD!

1 1/2 lbs. haddock (or any white fish you like)
1 (12 ct) package corn tortillas
4 tbs. olive oil
Zest from 1 lime
Juice from 1 lime
Handful of cilantro, chopped
2 scallions, chopped

Avocado Cream:
2 avocados, peeled, halved and pitted
1/3 c. sour cream
1 scallion, chopped
1 handful cilantro, chopped
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
Juice from 1 lime
Salt and pepper to taste

Whisk together olive oil, zest, juice, scallions and cilantro until well combined. Pour into a large, freezer safe bag with fish and marinate in the fridge for 1 hour. In the meantime, heat up a small pan. Once hot, dry roast tortillas one at a time. Flip after 30 seconds, then place in a clean towel to keep warm (you can also put your oven on low if you want them super warm). Mash together all ingredients for avocado cream (very easy), and set aside.

Line a large skillet with olive oil (just enough to cover the bottom), then cook fish on medium high. Flip after 7 minutes, then let cook for another 4 (your fish might break up a little bit but that’s okay). Remove from heat, then assemble your tacos!

Note for making terrific tacos: WOAAAAH BABY these were delicious. A perfect fresh summertime meal. Haddock is a great fish for this because it holds up under the harshness of the lime juice and isn’t very fishy tasting… You can top these with anything you want; lettuce, tomatoes, onions… but I went plain. My family loved them! YAY SUMMER.

First and foremost, I’m not going to lie: my mother made this recipe. I was due to have a guest star. I was also due for some sort of break and at long last, I was granted one. SO NOW DIANE DESMARAIS PRESENTS TO YOU… TABOULI.

2 c. bulgur wheat
2 c. hot water (very, very hot)
1 cucumber, diced
2 tomatoes, diced
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped (about 2 cups)
1 garlic clove, minced

Dressing:
Juice from 1 lemon
3/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl, soak bulgur in hot water until it’s completely absorbed. Once soft, add all ingredients. Whisk together dressing ingredients until combined, then stir into tabouli. Let chill, then serve.

Note for making terrific tabouli: Now, I’m not a huge fan of tabouli so I’m probably the wrong person to ask… but she brought it to a work function and it was a big hit! Mint is also a traditional ingredient in tabouli, so you could definitely add it if you want.

I was just checking the weather and this weekend is supposed to be SOOOOO NICE in southern New Hampshire. So nice out that you could probably GRILL outside and it be completely acceptable! I’ve always been fairly hesitant about grilled desserts, but I think that mostly stems from my hatred of Bobby Flay (he’s so harsh and all he does is grill fruit and makes tons of money for it). I was perusing some easy summer grilled desserts and (something similar to) this popped up amongst his usual grilled peaches, pineapples, etc. Chocolate, peanut butter and bananas? Yes, PLEASE!

2 slices of whole wheat bread
1 ripe banana
1 tbs. powdered sugar
1/4 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tbs. peanut butter
Butter for spreading

Mash up the banana with powdered sugar until chunky but not a paste. In a small bowl, melt chocolate chips with peanut butter in the microwave. Heat up your grill (I used a panini press instead), then butter both slices of bread on one side. Butter side down, place one slice on grill and spread banana on top. Take remaining slice, spread with chocolate mixture on non-buttered side, and place face down on top of the banana slice. Grill until the first side has nice char marks, then flip. Cook for a few more minutes, then remove from grill and let cool. Cut into wedges and serve!

Note for making the best banana sandwiches: To tell you the truth, these kind of disappointed me. They’re so ooey-gooey and rich that they seriously made me sick! I KNEW BOBBY FLAY WAS THE WORST! These could be highly improved if there wasn’t sugar in the bananas, and you used less of everything overall. GREAT NOW I WANNA BARF! THANKS BOBBY!

Butter sauces are not for the faint of heart. That is, because, you are using STRAIGHT SATURATED FAT as a topping for carbohydrates… To those of you who are scared of butter, I’m just going to say that everything is okay in moderation. This rosemary-butter pasta is definitely rich, but BOY it’s so delicious I don’t even care how bad it is for me.

1 lb. pasta (I used straight-up spaghetti)
1 stick of unsalted butter
4 tbs. olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
2 rosemary sprigs, chopped fine
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
Salt & pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. In the meantime, heat a skillet to medium-high and add butter and olive oil. Cut the two cloves of garlic in half then place in the skillet with butter. Whisk until butter starts to brown, then add rosemary. Once pasta is finished cooking, strain and put directly in skillet with sauce. Remove garlic (I chop it up and put it back in because I love lots of it), add parmesan, then stir until pasta is completely covered. Serve immediately!

Note for making perfect pasta: I mean, whenever you COVER something with butter it’s going to be delicious, but I feel like there’s more to why it’s so good… The olive oil really makes everything come together, and the cheese gives it a nice saltiness. Not to mention this recipe is VERY easy (I made it in 10 minutes and had it for lunch)! If you wanted to cut the richness of this, add some lemon juice or you could even use a ‘light’ butter (Paula Deen is going to kill me).