The food forecast for Memorial Day calls for heavy grilling. Indeed, once spring can be measured in sunlight hours rather than muddy shoe prints across the kitchen floor, barbecue season has arrived.
Gas grilling’s more convenient and less messy, but I prefer the flavor of food that’s been grilled over old-fashioned charcoal or our fabulous electric auger-driven Traeger smoker. So we keep all kinds of grills on the premises.
Vegetables are a natural for the grill because they develop such an irresistibly sweet and smoky flavor during the process.
Tips for grilling vegetables
Consider purchasing a vegetable grill rack, or grill topper, as they’re sometimes called. It’s simply a metal sheet (some of them are enamel coated) with holes cut out of it to allow flames and smoke to touch and penetrate the food.
They are designed to allow you to cook cut-up vegetables that would otherwise fall through the wide grate on your grill.
To keep veggies moist, brush or toss with an oil or marinade before cooking, which also helps to prevent them from sticking.
For even cooking, vegetables should be grilled whole or cut into similarly sized pieces.
Vegetables cook quickly on the grill (usually within 5 to 10 minutes).
To prepare a tasty corn garnish for soups or salads, simply brush husked ears of corn with olive oil or melted butter and grill, turning occasionally, until tender and grill-marked (about 7 to 10 minutes).
A great resource for tips and recipes for cooking veggies on the grill: “The Vegetarian Grill,” by Andrea Chesman.
This is my all-time favorite way to grill a pile of fresh vegetables. After letting them soak up my zesty marinade for an hour or two, I drain the vegetables and simply stir-fry them over charcoal or gas grill. This requires a special grilling pan with small holes so small pieces of food or fish won’t fall through during cooking. If you don’t have one, this is a perfect excuse to make the purchase.
Jan’s marinated and grilled veggies For the marinade:
1/3cup red or white wine vinegar
1/4cup dry red wine (such as Zinfandel, Cabernet, or Pinot Noir)
2tablespoons soy sauce
1teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4teaspoon salt
1/4teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3cloves finely minced garlic
2/3cup extra-virgin olive oil
Vegetables for grilling:
1/4pound mushrooms (halved or whole, depending on size)
1red bell pepper, seeded and cut in strips
1yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut in strips
6fresh asparagus spears (remove tough lower portion, then cut into 1-inch pieces)
1whole sweet onion, cut into thin strips or rings
Combine the vinegar, wine, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, garlic and olive oil. Place the vegetables in one large container or 2 recloseable plastic bags. Pour the marinade over the vegetables and let marinate for 1 to 2 hours.
When ready to cook, remove the vegetables from the marinade (the marinade will keep for a couple of weeks, so refrigerate in a sealed jar for another round of veggies within that time frame). Place the grill pan on top of the grill grate over hot coals or gas flame and let it heat through. Add the vegetables and let them cook, turning and tossing the veggies sort of as you would for a stir-fry, until they’re lightly golden and cooked through.
Remove from heat. Delicious with rice or polenta, or even in a sandwich.
Here’s cookbook author (“The Vegetarian Grill”) Andrea Chesman’s tasty marinade, which works for a variety of grilled vegetables. It doubles as a great salad dressing.
Jan Roberts-Dominguez is a Corvallis, Ore., food writer, cookbook author and artist. Readers can contact her by e-mail, at janrd@proaxis.com.
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