So, here’s a little secret for you: I was supposed to make veggie “scallops” tonight, but I left said scallops at the office and didn’t have the heart to drive over to retrieve them once I’d realized my miscue late this afternoon. Thank heaven for a full freezer! Beef tips filled the void just beautifully.
First, I peeled several potatoes from our recent haul at Great Country Farms, and then cut them into a small dice – less than a square inch each. I plunked the potatoes into a foil packet, topped them with a pat of butter and a hearty helping of parsley and chives from the garden, and finally topped them with some chipotle powder. Then I sealed the packet up with an extra sheet of foil and moved on to the next event – prepping the peas!
The peas were of course a much easier job, since I only had to open the can and place the contents into an aluminum grill pan. I added some black pepper, covered the pan with foil, and set it in the on-deck circle as well.
Finally, I pulled out yet another foil packet for the beef tips (we used Gardein this time around). Allowing them to spend a few minutes out of the freezer before going onto the grill helped them to cook a little bit faster in the end!
Once the grill was piping-hot, I placed the potatoes on the hottest part and let them cook for about 40 minutes, turning them every 10 minutes or so. With half an hour left in the cooking time, I added the peas to the grill, and with 20 minutes left, I added the beef tips, turning them every 10 minutes as well.
We ate a little bit late tonight, so the sun was well past setting when we took dinner up. As a result, we ate indoors, since our backyard table candle has burned so low that it’s barely visible, but no matter – we enjoyed our cookout feast just as much at the dining-room table as we would’ve out back! There’s just something so comforting about steak and potatoes – and the vegetarian version is even better still. Fresh spuds, steaming-hot peas, and tender vegetarian “beef” tips – a great way to end a week!
:)