No (Hot) Dogs Allowed

A guide to grilling without red meat 17

As July 4th approaches, it's time to prepare for picnics and BBQs -- and, if you're eating less and less red meat these days, you're probably devising alternative strategies for these occasions.

There are two main approaches to dealing with this situation: substituting other foods in place of red meat, or bumping dishes that used to be considered "sides" up to Main Attraction status and adding protein to them. I like to do a little bit of both.

Where's the beef? Who cares?

I realized several years ago that, while I really like all the "trimmings" on a burger, I don't actually care to eat the meat itself. So I invented the "trimmings" burger -- all trimmings, no burger. I add Swiss or cheddar cheese, tomatoes, thinly sliced onions, ketchup, mayo, and pickles, but I skip the patty. I've tried to order such a burger at fast-food joints, with little success -- either they tell me it can't be done because the meat is the heat source for the entire burger entity, or they give up and serve it stone cold.

I decided to address the "meat is the heat source" issue by inventing a "tomato steak." One makes it thusly: Cut a very thick (about 1 1/2 to 2-inch) slice from the center of the tomato (if I were in marketing I would call it the "center cut tomato steak" -- and all the better if it came from a Beefsteak tomato) and then either microwave it with a tiny bit of butter (1/2 tablespoon) on top or sauté it in a pan with the same amount of butter. Season it when warmed through with a little salt and black pepper.

If I have baked beans sitting around, I take about 1/2 cup of beans, let them drain for about five minutes in a colander, mush them into a paste along with some torn-up pieces of crust from a piece of soft white or wheat bread, form the paste into a patty, and sauté it gently in a little bit of butter until it is warmed through. Then I gingerly lift the patty onto a bun using a spatula. It doesn't hold together well, but it's quite delicious, and if you eat it soon after serving it, the fact that it might fall apart becomes a non-issue.

Meanwhile, back at the picnic table, there are still some remaining issues to be dealt with, such as hot dogs. I actually still eat hot dogs once in a blue moon, but I've realized that, as with the burgers, my undying devotion to chili dogs is really more about the chili than the dog. (If you have similar strong feelings about chili dogs, you must visit Pink's before you die.) So I started having dogless chili dogs: I put veggie chili (or sometimes just baked beans) into a lightly toasted hot dog bun with chopped white onion and cheese. The heat from the chili melts the cheese. It's delicious.

If you eat poultry, you can serve grilled, smoked, or BBQ'd chicken, turkey, or duck, and you can now also buy seasoned sausages made from chicken and turkey. There are some fantastic flavors, such as apple or sun-dried tomato, sweet and hot Italian, and even some stuffed with feta. I've also seen patties and sausages made from salmon, and I have cooked them successfully in pans, but I haven't yet tried to grill them, something I hope to try later this summer.

Speaking of grilling seafood, you can, of course, just grill fish in their original fishy form. I highly recommend books on grilling by Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby. Also, Jane Alexander (yes, that Jane Alexander -- amazing actress and former head of the National Endowment for the Arts) co-authored The Bluefish Cookbook: 101 Ways to Get Rid of the Blues with Greta Jacobs. I'll go into grilling seafood in more depth next time.

As I mentioned earlier, offering delicious side dishes can assure that there is something for everyone, from vegans to omnivores. Here are some suggestions; highlighted dishes link to recipes previously published on this website.

Vegan picnic choices

  • baked beans
  • pasta with basil or sun-dried tomato pesto
  • tomatoes dressed with a vinaigrette made with chopped black and/or green olives and fresh marjoram or oregano leaves
  • green salad tossed with a vinaigrette that has 1 to 2 tablespoons of BBQ sauce in it for an animal-free dish that still offers a classic BBQ flavor
  • peanut noodles
  • hummus, baba ganouj, and mini pitas served with slices of cucumbers dusted with a pinch of paprika and sliced tomatoes to make mini sandwiches
  • caponata (a cold eggplant relish)
  • potato salad made with an herb vinaigrette or with lemon-flavored vegan mayo and torn mint leaves
  • three-bean salad
  • pickled veggies, including okra, tomatoes, mushrooms, dilly beans (green beans pickled with dill and garlic), and cabbage (see recipe below)
  • chocolate-cherry vegan cake
  • gazpacho
  • panzanella

Vegetarian picnic choices

  • garlic bread
  • skewers alternating bocconcini (small balls of mozzarella) with cherry tomatoes and basil leaves, served cold
  • "cheeseburgers" such as the ones described earlier (i.e., no meat patty)
  • boursin served in cucumber cups (cut 3- to 4-inch sections of cucumber, peel, hollow out a little cup, stuff with boursin)
  • egg salad made with basil or tarragon on whole wheat bread
  • cream cheese flavored with chopped olives and pimiento in celery stalks
  • deviled eggs
  • potato salad made with chopped hard-boiled eggs, sliced gherkin pickles, and mayo
  • new potato salad made with a mayo-sour cream dressing, cucumber half moons (i.e., slices of cucumber that have been scooped out and cut in half), fresh dill, and black pepper
  • curried peanut butter cookies
  • spiced chocolate ice cream
  • lemon ice cream with blackberry sauce

Here is a recipe for pickled cabbage that I really like. It's crisp and refreshing on a hot summer day, and a nice change from the usual mayo-laden cole slaw.

Chinese-style cold pickled cabbage with sliced ginger

One 3-4 lb. Napa cabbage
2 Tbsp kosher salt
4 Tbsp sugar
1 cup white vinegar
1-2 Tbsp thinly julienned ginger sticks (use a piece roughly the size of your thumb)
8-10 small, potent dried red chilies (optional) such as Thai bird chilies

Peel off the outer green leaves until you see only crisp, healthy-looking leaves. Tear them off the stem and wash the leaves and shake them dry. Cut them into bands about 1/2 inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long. Layer the leaves in a large bowl, covering them with the salt. Leave them at room temperature for 3-4 hours. Drain the leaves and squeeze any excess liquid out of them.

When the cabbage is done sitting in the salt, peel the ginger and slice it into julienne sticks (i.e., very thin matchstick-size pieces.)

In a second large bowl, start the layering process again. Add half the cabbage and add the sugar and the sliced ginger. If you are going to add chilies, put half of them in now as well. Now add the other half of all of the ingredients.

Pour the vinegar over everything in the bowl. Cover and leave in the fridge for 24 hours. Serve cold.

Roz Cummins is a food writer who has worked in every possible permutation of food co-op, natural foods store, and granola-type restaurant. She lives in the greater Boston area and feels it is her mission to put the “eco” back in home economy.

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  1. Colin Bennett Posted 6:32 am
    28 Jun 2007

    Udder NonsenseIf this is called a quick guide to meat-free grilling, why on earth does it include tips on how to prepare meat? Considering eating animals is one of the worst things that people in this country can do to our planet (not to mention the animal) I am very disappointed that grist would publish this. Shame on you grist, you should know better.

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  2. zibby Posted 7:59 am
    28 Jun 2007

    Sooo confusedFor those left as confused as I am by this um, meat-free grilling guide, I thought I'd offer some suggestions based on my follies with my newly-acquired second-hand meat-free grill.
    Tofurkey sun dried tomato and basil sausages ROCK the grill. So do Morningstar smoked sausages. Both also make great additions to veggie skewers.
    Morningstar vegan grillers are good 'burgers' though i wish they were bigger and could completely fill their buns.
    An oft-requested side dish from my freeloading friends is marinated, grilled artichokes. I won't go into the details here so find yourself a recipe online. FANtastic!
    And for dessert the big favorite is grilled peaches (yup, just slice 'em and throw 'em on there - i find the white freestone peaches easiest to slice without squishing to death in attempt to remove pit)or pineapple over soy dream vanilla ice cream, drizzled with a little orange muscat port.
    Mmmm. no longer confused, just hungry....

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  3. rozgrist Posted 9:51 am
    28 Jun 2007

    An editorial error...Hi. My aim was to write an article about avoiding or reducing one's consumption of red meat, not poultry and fish. The editor wrote the headline about meat-free grilling. I am sorry about the confusion. I will ask the editor to change the headline.

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  4. akbeancounter Posted 9:54 am
    28 Jun 2007

    Side Dishes?I appreciate the sentiment in suggesting (however briefly) a meat-free barbecue, but I find it a little disappointing that nearly all of your vegetarian or vegan offerings are side dishes.  For many vegetarians, barbecues and potlucks can be an isolating experience.  Many times have I surveyed the landscape of a company potluck, only to find meat in every last entree.
    It's not exactly barbecue food, but a spicy pasta puttanesca or veggie lasagna makes a great entree, and provides an alternative for those who don't eat meat, or are all "burgered out."  Those who prefer something distinctly American on the Fourth might want to look into the cuisine of America's past (y'know, before the megafarms and fast food destroyed regional culture).  Before WWII, meat was a rare treat among the working class.
    Given the paucity of vegetarian entrees suggested by this article, I'd be interested my fellow readers' suggestions.

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  5. rozgrist Posted 10:11 am
    28 Jun 2007

    Why stick with the entree-and-sides model?As most of my friends are vegetarians I am keenly aware that they can feel isolated at BBQ's, which is why I offered a long list of dishes. I guess I am used to the "grazing" model where people assemble a tapas-like meal out of many small dishes eaten over time as opposed to the single entree and sides model.
    I agree that lasagna is an excellent entrée, but sitting here in the 95 degree heat I can't quite face the idea of hot lasagna on a hot day. You can serve it cold, though, the same way you can serve a frittatta cold.
    I purposely avoided writing about soy burgers and similar products because anyone who wants to eat them can just go right out and buy their favorite brand, so there's not much for me to offer in the way of a recipe there. A vegetarian friend served some veggie sausages cooked in cider (influenced by a Spanish recipe) at a party I attended a few nights ago, but I got there just after the last sausage was consumed. (Damn you, lack of Boston parking spaces!) Everyone said they were great. I'll ask her for the recipe.
    I guess I would just suggest trying some of the recipes listed above and seeing if you really still feel hungry and disappointed afterwards. These dishes are really flavorful, and flavorful dishes are usually very satisfying, no matter how you categorize them.

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  6. meadow20 Posted 12:14 pm
    28 Jun 2007

    you forgot this!a portabello mushroom basted with a terriaki marinade while grilling is just burger patty size and tender,juicy and delicious with all the burger trimmings. Also grilled kabobs with marinated vegetables like bell peppers, mushrooms, onions and pinneapple are great too. Add some chunky fake chicken if you like.

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  7. rozgrist Posted 11:46 am
    29 Jun 2007

    Portobello mushrooms...are they safe?Hi. For years I enjoyed portobello burgers. They're tasty and delicious. Twice, though, I've read articles by Dr. Andrew Weil stating that he believes that portobello mushrooms -- and small white button mushrooms -- may be carcinogenic. I didn't want to write about that until I could find something separate that corroborated his opinion,and I haven't yet been able to make the time to do a thorough search of the literature. On the one hand, I find it odd that, if this is true, it hasn't more widely reported. On the other, Weil may just be out in front of other researchers with regard to this notion.
    As I said, I haven't been able to establish anything one way or another on this yet so I've been hesitant to write about it, but since you rasied the issue, I wanted to explain my reason for excluding them from my list of suggestions.

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  8. CyberBrook's avatar

    CyberBrook Posted 1:11 pm
    29 Jun 2007

    meat-free should be meat-freeI appreciate the author writing in with a correction, but i still want to see more meat-free articles.
    If the livestock industry contributes more to global warming than all vehicles combined (it does!...check the FAO's "Livestock's Long Shadow" from Nov 2006), one would expect more articles about, say, vegetarianism than about hybrid cars and lesser issues (and one would be disappointed).
    Please visit Eco-Eating at http://www.brook.com/veg for tons of info and lots of links. And I promise it'll be completely meat-free!

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  9. rozgrist Posted 1:26 am
    30 Jun 2007

    Why it's important to address meat eaters as wellHi. I don't have time to go back and count right now, but I'm pretty sure that most of the recipes I have published on Grist in the past year are meat-free. I think that it's important to write for meat-eaters as well now and then, however, as they are an audience whose behavior may change somewhat if offered some alternatives. They may not choose to stop eating meat all together, but if they eat less of it that will have a positive impact on the environment.
    If I wrote only for people who have already stopped eating meat that would be "preaching to the converted" and would not have the chance of changing anyone's consumption patters that my addressing meat eaters does. This may sound like odd logic, but if you think about it, it's true.  
    Also, as you noted in your comment, there are already many fantastic websites for vegans and vegetarians.
    My goal in writing this column (and the one on bacon substitutes about a year ago)is to offer alternatives to eating a lot of red meat. I don't see very many websites targeted at people who are moving towards making conscious environmental choices when it comes to what they buy and eat -- and that's a shame because I believe that there are a great many people who fall into this category. They may not be ready to renounce meat completely, but they also don't want to buy and eat it mindlessly.
    If you are a Vegan or vegetarian, that's great. You're already making a great contribution to the health of the planet by choosing to eat the way that you do. I think it makes sense, however, to be patient with people who continue to eat meat while they discover that they actually prefer to eat meat less often. It's usually more effective to let people have their own experiences and come to decisions for themselves than it is to try to goad them into doing something that they're either not ready for or not into doing in a 100% commited way. If they may be interested in pursuing it on a level somewhat less dramatic than that, why not encourage all the small changes they are making rather than rail against the fact that they haven't made the choice that you've made for yourself? I think it's more effective and meaningful in the long run.

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  10. theDavidMartin Posted 1:17 am
    02 Jul 2007

    ThanksGood article. And I appreciate the inclusion of meat. I've been trying to ween myslf off meat for some time now and articles like this only encoruage me further with new cooking alternatives (ESPECIALLY for the grill!)
    I think this post was made just for me! Clearly it was not for many of those that responded...
    Thanks

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  11. CindersAshes Posted 11:21 pm
    02 Jul 2007

    No Meat is Good MeatI'm not a big activist or anything, and far be it from me to preach vegetarianism, but I personally stopped eating meat last year, around December, only because it was making me feel sick.  I guess my body was telling me something.  Anyway, I quit and I don't miss it at all.  I eat fish and shellfish maybe once a week, but otherwise my diet is based on vegetables, pasta, bread, fruit, etc.

    I think you made a great point about putting meatless chili on a hotdog bun.  What a great idea!

    As for salmon patties or salmon loaf - I tried to make it once, it was a disaster.  I'm sure a really good chef could serve it up tasty, though.

    I want to make a note about turkey and chicken.  Don't be fooled by thinking it's healthier than beef (or pork).  I got food poisoning from a turkey burger a few years ago: I was sick for months, thought I was going to die!

    I was always a little wary about whether my chicken was a) fresh enough and b) cooked enough.  So instead of worrying, I just QUIT eating it.

    Think about it - which will make you sicker:  a rare beefsteak or a rare chicken?  ::: yuck :::

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  12. kendralis Posted 5:36 am
    03 Jul 2007

    Meat-Free Fast FoodIt's very easy to order a burger with just the fillings, no patty, at In-N-Out Burger joints in the West. It's called a "Grilled Cheese," but it really has all the fixin's and it's delicious. Never miss the meat. I get it "Animal-Style" so it's slathered with their secret sauce and includes grilled onions. If you recall, In-N-Out was one chain the author of Fast Food Nation felt comfortable eating at because everything is made fresh to order. It takes a little longer, but it's worth it.
    I've also had success ordering my Taco Bell favorite, the Mexican Pizza, with no meat. Although I've stopped eating there since I found out all the menu items are rehydrated. That's just disgusting.

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  13. rozgrist Posted 12:16 pm
    03 Jul 2007

    Meat-free and "Animal-Style"?Hi. Thanks for writing in about In-N-Out burger. I think it's very funny that you can get something that's meat-free in a fashion called "Animal-Style". I will definitely check it out when I am next in L.A. or elsewhere on the West Coast.

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  14. rozgrist Posted 12:59 pm
    03 Jul 2007

    About white button mushrooms, Portobello, criminiHere is a link to one of the articles in which Dr. Weil reports that this species of mushrooms contains carcinogens. He also lists serveral other species that do not contain these compounds. The argument that he is making, I believe, is that while the degree of risk from these carcinogens is currently unclear, why not opt for the species that don't contain them.
    http://health.yahoo.com/experts/weilhealthyliving/336/pic ...

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  15. CyberBrook's avatar

    CyberBrook Posted 1:11 am
    04 Jul 2007

    taco bell bean burritosAt any taco bell, you can order their bean burritos which are vegetarian (if you want it vegan, just say no cheese...if you want less cheese, just say easy cheese). If they don't have bean burritos listed, you can order the beef one and ask for beans instead of beef. I've done this many times at many taco bells and it has very rarely been a problem. That said, the food isn't great, in any sense of the word, but it is fast and veg!

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  16. Lampman33 Posted 11:58 pm
    09 Jul 2007

    hot dogsSince you still eat hot dogs 'once in a blue moon', let me suggest that the next time you do, you try my; no-nitrate, all beef, grassfinished, natural casing ones.  My cows and calves are raised organically, are home slaughtered, so  never leave the farm. They eat grass in spring, summer, and fall on hilly, rocky land that is not suitable for conventional or even small scale agriculture.  So the 'carbon footprint' is about as small as one can get and still eat meat.  I am not an advocate for eating much meat and I certainly appreciate my animals and their 'ultimate contribution'.  I highly recommend Nina Plank's book "Real Food, What It Is and Why Eat It".  She has chapters on meat, fish, dairy, veggies, and nutrition. It is Outstanding.(and she was a vegetarian)  There are recognized health needs and benefits of consumming some 'healthy' fat from animals  that consume grass; pastured poultry, pigs and beef.

    Cordially,  Larry, Fox Hill Farm

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  17. amc89 Posted 1:25 am
    24 Aug 2007

    Homemade veggie burgersThank for the vegan recipes. Making homemade lentil, chick pea or black bean burgers is another main course alternative, if you have some time to prep before hand.
    My citrus marinated grilled tofu was a big hit at the last bbq I went to.  

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