What’s the latest event in your life where afterwards your normal was never the same? While Alex and I have had our share of challenging times, for us becoming first-time parents has been overwhelmingly positive. I had all sorts of fears about the transition. Will I lose my true self and become a different person? Will parenting consume so much time I’ll lose my relationships and community? Will my spouse and I argue constantly? Will we never be able to have fun again? Luckily, none of these fears have materialized (yet). It helps that Larson is truly a fun baby to be around. I feel like my myself, or really, an even better version of myself. Our community has been gracious and accommodating, and our relationships are intact. As parents, Alex and I have been team mates and allies, never adversaries. And we’re having a heck of a lot of fun.
So, our summer grilling game has not suffered one bit. Alex even had a smoke fest of juicy ribs with some friends. But overwhelmingly, the recipes we love to share in the summer are vegetarian grill recipes. It’s easy to think first of meat when grilling, but over the years we’ve had some incredible vegetarian grill recipes. Think grilled romaine, grilled veggie fajitas, stuffed grilled zucchini, and grilled corn (see below). When we think vegetarian grill recipes, we think outside of the common “veggie burger” to creative, interesting vegetable concoctions.
Somehow out of all the grilled cheese we’ve made, we’ve never made grilled cheese on an actual grill. I dreamed it up the other day as one of our first vegetarian grill recipes of the season, and convinced to Alex agreed to use his grilling skills to make it a reality. For the filling, I had bookmarked a pesto recipe with pumpkin seeds made by our friend Heather at Flourishing Foodie. Instead of basil, I decided to use the gobs of fresh mint we have growing around the yard. If you’re looking for a hearty fresh herb to plant, mint is one of our top picks! It grows like a weed, so typically by the end of the summer it’s grown into a thick carpet. One nice thing about mint is that it works in both sweet and savory dishes. We have quite a few mint recipes we like to make in the summer, notably a refreshing lemon mint slush to a mint syrup to drizzle over fruit. Now, we can add pesto to our list of mint recipes. It’s incredibly simple, a blend of fresh mint, pumpkin seeds, garlic, olive oil, and Parmesan. You could absolutely substitute fresh basil for the mint here.
The grilling part of this enterprise is also simple: fire up the grill, grill the bread on both sides, and then top and grill until the cheese melts. The grill imparts a smoky flavor that’s a fine compliment to the gooey cheese and savory pesto. I’m not sure how we hadn’t tried this before, but it’s a trick we’ll be using throughout the summer.
How about you: have you made grilled cheese on the grill? What are some of your favorite vegetarian grill recipes?
Looking for vegetarian grill recipes?
For us, summer grilling is all about vegetarian grill recipes! It’s easy to think of veggie burgers, but often times their texture is not designed to hold up on a grill. Grilled vegetables can work for everything from a side to a main dish. Here are a few of our favorite vegetarian grill recipes:
- Grilled Vegetable Fajitas
- Grilled Vegetables with Quinoa + Tomato Sauce
- Quinoa Stuffed Grilled Zucchini
- Grilled Eggplant with Herbed Quinoa and Cherry Tomatoes
- Grilled Potatoes and Carrots with Herb & Feta Pesto
- Grilled Corn with Harissa and Feta
- Grilled Balsamic Portabellos with Fresh Caprese Topping
- Grilled Romaine Salad with Tuna (Salade Nicoise)
- Grilled Eggplant Parmesan
More fresh mint recipes
Fresh mint is easy to plant and grows like a weed! If you’re just starting out, see our instructions on how to grow fresh herbs. If you’ve got lots of fresh mint, here are a few of our favorite mint recipes:
- Strawberry Rhubarb Margaritas with Mint Lime Ice
- Berries and Peaches with Mint Syrup
- Strawberries with Balsamic, Greek Yogurt and Mint
- Lemon Mint Slush
More grilled cheese recipes
Who doesn’t love grilled cheese? It’s a classic that can be interpreted in creative ways. Some of our favorite grilled cheese recipes include:
- Spinach Artichoke Grilled Cheese (our most popular recipe of all time)
- Roasted Tomato Basil Grilled Cheese
- Tomato Avocado Grilled Cheese
- Reuben Grilled Cheese
- Grilled Cheese Crepes with Chard and Dill
Did you make this recipe?
If you make this mint pesto grilled cheese on the grill, we’d love to hear how it turned out. Leave a comment below or share a picture on Instagram and mention @acouplecooks.
This recipe is…
Vegetarian. For vegan or plant-based, use vegan cheese. For gluten-free, use gluten-free bread.
- For the pesto
- 1 cup loosely packed mint leaves
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tablespoons pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated
- For the grilled cheese
- 8 slices multigrain artisan bread
- Olive oil
- 8 slices provolone cheese (about 6 ounces)
- Preheat a grill to medium high.
- In the bowl of a food processor, add the mint, garlic, and pumpkin seeds and pulse until a thick paste forms. With the processor running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Then add the kosher salt and Parmesan cheese and pulse until combined.
- Slice the bread into ½-inch thick slices and brush them lightly with olive oil. Place the bread slices on the grill and cook, covered, until grill marks form and the bread slices are lightly toasted, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Remove the bread from the grill, top with one cheese slice, then pesto, then another cheese slice. Return to the grill and cook until the cheese is melted, about 1 minute. Serve immediately.
A Couple Cooks - Recipes for Healthy & Whole Living
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