Grilled Pepper Pancakes with Goat Cheese

On September 8, 2026September 7, 2026 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, grainsLeave a comment

Last week was a busy one, so I’m a bit behind in sharing the latest recipe in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon. It’s another easy meal made with grilled sweet peppers and grilled vegetables, which I featured heavily last month. These Grilled Pepper Pancakes, and other savory pancake recipes, pair well with a topic that had much of my attention last week: pickles.

Pickling cucumber season is winding down, so I was excited to bring several pounds of a locally grown variety to my workshop at Columbia Falls Library and let people fill jars with sliced cucumbers and their choice of brine and seasonings for refrigerator pickles. I’ll be busy teaching many more workshops through the end of the year—not just privately hosted workshops but also several at Flathead Valley Community College through its Continuing Education program. Many of the FVCC cooking workshops for the fall semester have already sold out, so sign up soon if you want to get in on the fun.
Learn to make Grilled Pepper Pancakes with Goat Cheese

Creamy Grilled Pepper, Onion, and Garlic Pasta

On August 28, 2026August 28, 2026 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, grilledLeave a comment

Every summer, I can jars of tomato-based pasta sauces, freeze pestos, and preserve other vegetables so that they can quickly be tossed with pasta for a weeknight meal. But when the garden is producing heavily, I prefer to make easy pasta sauces from the fresh harvest, including the sauce I share this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon.

Grilling the vegetables makes this particular sauce so speedy yet taste like it spent hours developing its deep flavor. Sweet peppers, along with alliums like onions and garlic, caramelize and pick up smoky notes from the open flame.

The grilling process itself might seem like extra work, particularly if you need to set up and clean a gas grill or wait for charcoal to fully light before you start. I typically make this meal when I already have a mound of its vegetables to grill for freezing or canning or when we’re out on our sailboat and it’s as easy to pop a full gas canister onto a portable grill as the portable burner. When I’m grilling bowlfuls of vegetables but already have a dinner plan, I set aside ones for this pasta, or for the savory pancakes I’ll share next week, to make an ultrafast dinner a night or two later.
Learn to make Creamy Grilled Pepper, Onion, and Garlic Pasta

Grilled Portobello Mushrooms

On May 23, 2024 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, grilled2 Comments

I’ve shared several grilled vegetable recipes in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, mostly featuring summer’s harvest. We grill several meals each week in summer, piling on eggplant, corn, and other homegrown vegetables. Yet we get coals going throughout the year, regardless of temperatures and weather. Before the garden produces its first crop of asparagus and after I’ve cut the last broccoli florets of fall, my favorite grilling vegetables are mushrooms.

I briefly explained my technique for smoking and then searing mushrooms when I shared my recipe for Vegan Memphis-Style Barbecue Sauce. The preparation is delicious but takes a few stages. For a simpler approach still loaded with flavor, I marinate the mushrooms, grill them until cooked through, and serve.
Learn to make Grilled Portobello Mushrooms

Roasting Peppers

On April 11, 2023May 10, 2024 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn grilledLeave a comment

In one of my recent pieces for Taste of Home, I had a chance to share techniques for one of my favorite vegetable upgrades: roasting. I mainly roast homegrown peppers, so it’s an easy seasonal choice to char them on the grill. But if you’re buying peppers out of season or keeping an eye on a simmering pot in the kitchen, indoor techniques may make more sense. So I share not one but four ways to roast peppers of all colors, sizes, and heat levels.

Once glance at the price on a jar of roasted peppers in the store makes clear a key advantage to roasting your own. Other reasons include the ability to get them just the right softness to use in chunks in fresh dishes—jarred roasted peppers tend to be soft and slippery. I don’t just roast the standard red bell peppers, either: green bells, Gypsy peppers, Poblanos, and chilies all carry a smoky note when their charred.
Learn more about Roasting Peppers

Orange-Kissed Grilled Broccoli

On June 30, 2022November 18, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, grilled2 Comments

Since I live in the woods under shade-throwing conifers, surrounded by dense clay soil and frequently visited by deer and other grazing wildlife, I grow most of my vegetables on a friend’s sunny property. When one of us has a favorite crop, we can risk growing a little extra, knowing that if we’re overly zealous and successful the bounty will be divided between two kitchens. This year, broccoli is on the favorite-crop list, so in May we planted 18 starts, and we’re already harvesting our first heads.

As I share this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, the first stalks were sweet and tender, so I simply sliced them into a salad. But I’m now laying them on the grill alongside asparagus and other vegetables. Slicing broccoli down its length, from crown to stalk, creates pieces less likely to fall through the grill. When cooked over an open flame, the pieces stay crisp and crunchy inside while roasting to perfection on the exterior.
Learn to make Orange-Kissed Grilled Broccoli

Grilled Asparagus

On May 12, 2022November 18, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, grilledLeave a comment

Finally, the asparagus has decided to wake up and poke its tips through the soil in the garden. We’re expecting one more frost tomorrow night, but the subsequent forecast makes it clear I will soon be harvesting an asparagus crop.

You may think I’d wait for even warmer weather to make the grilled asparagus recipe I share this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon. But we have no fear of firing up our battered, hand-me-down Weber before the heart of the summer grilling season. Grilling is my favorite way to cook asparagus, and a hot grill is far more comfortable to stand over while the evenings are still cool. It won’t be long before the spears will be sharing grill space with a range of homegrown produce, including corn, eggplant, onions, peppers, tomatoes, and tomatillos.
Learn to make Grilled Asparagus

Grilled Tofu

On August 5, 2021August 5, 2021 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Grilling, IngredientLeave a comment

Since last week’s post, I’ve been continuing to sample and enjoy recipes from The ‘Ohana Grill Cookbook. One of the first to catch my eye continues to be a favorite, so I was thrilled when author Adrienne Robillard and photographer Dawn Sakamoto Paiva allowed me to share it in a bonus grilling post this week.

The book’s 50 recipes put Hawaiian flavors on the grill, no matter where your grill is located. I had no trouble finding most of the ingredients listed, even in northwest Montana, and my homegrown vegetables had plenty of chances to play with pineapple, mango, and other tropical flavors. I tried many fish and shellfish recipes from the collection—and more than 20 recipes will satisfy meat lovers. But one I’m going to be making again and again should be on everyone’s list, from carnivores to vegans: Grilled Tofu and Veggies.
Learn to make Grilled Tofu and Veggies from The ‘Ohana Grill Cookbook

Cookbook Review: Grilling, Hawaiian Style

On July 29, 2021July 29, 2021 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Grilling, TopicLeave a comment

Besides grilling and sharing my own recipes this month, the authors of the new ‘Ohana Grill Cookbook offered me a copy to check out. The Hawaiian-inspired recipes range from Pineapple Chicken to Curry Coconut Shrimp with a side of Sesame Eggplant and Grilled Bread Salad. Of the recipes I’ve tried, we’ve had wiped-clean plates after every meal. To put it simply: making the recipes from The ‘Ohana Grill Cookbook has been such delicious fun.
Read more about The ‘Ohana Grill Cookbook

Beating the Heat

On July 8, 2021July 8, 2021 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Freezing, Grilling, Topic1 Comment

A couple of my off-the-blog pieces come in just as handy as a shady grill amid a heatwave. Learn more at TwiceasTasty.com.
Stepping outside to a shady grill to keep the kitchen cool is just one way I beat summer’s heat. A couple of my pieces that are appearing off the blog this month may come in just as handy amid a heatwave.

I’ll get back to sharing new grilling recipes in the next week. This week, I want to put you behind the scenes for my recently published freezer tour for Greatist and my lineup of portable electric burners for The Spruce Eats.
Read more about beating the heat

One Prep, Two Meals: From the Grill

On July 1, 2021September 8, 2021 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Grilling, Topic2 Comments

Recipes perfect for blazing summer days require minimal stovetop time and maximize your playtime. Learn more at TwiceasTasty.com.
Earlier this week, as I prepped for a boat-based spin on my Fine Dining: Front Country workshop, I was reminded how much I love grilled meals. Especially when I can create two dinners from one prep session. And especially in the middle of a heatwave.

This month, I’ll be sharing recipes perfect for blazing summer days. They require minimal stovetop time and instead have you firing up the grill. They also let you maximize your summer playtime by prepping the next night’s meal, using the same base ingredients but putting a new spin on their flavors. Instead of eating tiresome leftovers, you’ll enjoy a fresh dish with minimal added effort.
Read more about one prep for two meals from the grill