Not Exactly a Vegetarian!

Considering the fact there are few things I like more than a good quality piece of meat, this is kind of a strange time to be starting this blog.

I am just two weeks away from what is now become my annual pilgrimage to Sin City for the World Series of Poker including six weeks of 12-15 hour work days in the 110 degree heat that is the Las Vegas summer as I earn my keep working as a poker tournament reporter.

I started this whole poker journalism journey at the 2007 WSOP and have been around the world and back over the past year documenting the world of high stakes tournament poker along the way. Long hours on the job rarely translates into quality meals and being on the road means zero time in my own kitchen, but whether its local flavours or recommended restaurants I still manage to find the odd hidden gem worth writing home (or in the future here) about.

Most recently my travels took me to Monte Carlo for the European Poker Tour Grand Final after which my fabulous girlfriend (AKA The Gullet) and I took a few weeks to trek around Europe stopping in Nice, Paris, London, Amsterdam and Rome.

While I will endeavour to include more about Europe and some of the great food we tasted in future posts, the point of this whole story is that in the few weeks I have between gorging on Euro-delicacies and the inevitable combination of the good, bad and ugly that is Las Vegas dining, I decided it was time for a bit of a cleansing.

No, I am not spending three weeks sipping on maple syrup and lemon juice, but in an effort to eat only wholesome food and try something new along the way, I'm attempting to live the next few weeks as a vegetarian.

Always the carnivore, The Gullet didn't like the plan at first, but having tasted a few veggie specialties she can now be heard in circles around the city musing about the lack of need for meat (although she ate at The Keg with work colleagues the other night). The Gullet is particularly fond of my Grilled Veggie Quesadillas, which I've made for years but have now become a staple of this newly minted vegetarian menu.

The Quesadillas involve a fairly simple process that begins with one green, one red and one jalepeno pepper. While the red and green peppers are cut in half and seeded, I keep the jalepeno whole for cooking. I toss the peppers in a bowl, throw in a good sized zucchini cut into half centimetre slices and a centimetre-thick slice of a medium red onion.

After Drizzling a small amount of olive oil over the veggies I like to spice them up a bit. For this I add a pinch or two of my favourite Chili Roast Garlic Cholula Seasoning from Mexico and a little bit of Ancho Chili Pepper, but chili powder and garlic powder will do. Adding a little Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper is also necessary before firing up the grill.

As you will come to know from reading this blog, I use a charcoal grill. While it's a little more time consuming and a lot more difficult to control the temperature than gas, the authentic flavours are well worth the time and effort it takes - even for something as simple as grilled vegetables.

Once the grill gets going it only takes a few minutes to cook the veggies. I like to char the outside while ensuring each vegetable stays fairly firm. The key is to avoid over cooking and removing every last bit of nutrients our friends of the earth have brought to this party.

Once done it's back to the cutting board where I will not-so-finely chop up all the veggies and lightly toss them together. Here's where I lop the top off the jalepeno and give it a fairly fine chop before adding it to the mix. I then pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees and grab four large whole grain or whole wheat tortillas.

Outside of a number of soy based products like tofu, cheese is really a vegetarian's meat and the next ingredient in the Veggie Quesadilla. I usually like to use a grated grocery store Monterey Jack, but The Gullet and I rode the bikes over to Kensington Market on the weekend and picked up a little Jalepeno Havarti at one of the market's many cheese shops to throw in this time around.

I simply put a layer of cheese down on one of the tortillas, then a layer of grilled veggies, add another layer of cheese and top with another tortilla. Repeating the process should do away with the rest of the veggies and give me two large Quesadillas which I'll bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, pulling them out when they start to look a little brown and crispy. I cut the Quesadillas into slices and serve with a little fat-free sour cream and freshly chopped green onions. It's easy to do and always goes over well.

Over the past week of this vegetarian cleanse I've made a lot of pastas and a whole host of different salads. Later on this week I'll throw up a few more meal ideas I've used including a great way to marinate and cook tofu plus recipes for my Eggplant Parmesan, and Spinach and Eggplant Curry. I'll also talk a little about Little India and a great vegetarian restaurant The Gullet and I dropped by over the weekend.

For now though, I'd like to finish this post about vegetarian food talking about burgers. I love a good hamburger, from Johnny's Hamburgers on Victoria Park, to the McDonald's cheeseburgers The Gullet likes to call little cookies, I love them all.

While I can look forward to the tastes of In-N-Out Burger and Sonic while in Las Vegas in the coming weeks, I was a little concerned this vegetarian experiment would leave me burgerless as I fear the idea of biting into some sawdusty soy patty soaked in ketchup, mustard and mayo only to be dissapointed in the fact it bears little resemblance to what I'm really craving. But, after doing a little research on the meatless offerings at fast food restaurants around Toronto, I discovered those in the know seem to favour the Harvey's veggie burger.

I'll admit I was still afraid, but I headed on over to the nearest home of flame grilled goodness to grab one of these veggie burgers despite my trepidation. I paused and closed my eyes before taking the first bite, but the second was not so difficult. It wasn't too dry; it didn't taste chalky and before I knew it, this tasty meatless burger was gone. Loaded with all the usual toppings, I am happy to report that Harvey's makes your veggie burger "a beautiful thing".

It was so good that considering it's only ten grams of fat compared to the usual 18 of a Harvey's Original Burger - I am mulling over the permanent switch. In the meantime, I have decided to take The Gullet out to the local Lick's franchise for a taste of its famous Nature Burger - another favorite of meat haters all over the Internet.

Although, it is beginning to dawn on me that what began as a some kind of vegetarian cleanse may have now become just an excuse to eat a lot of fries.