Grilled Vegetables

Go Green

To the average guy, grilled meat is the easy part of outdoor cooking. The challenge is coming up with something interesting to accompany the meat.

Sure, you can get by with a bag of potato chips or prepare some barbecue standards: potato salad, coleslaw, pasta salad, tossed green salad, baked beans. But many vegetables are well suited for direct grilling and an assortment of grilled veggies is always a welcome change from the usual picnic fare.

Wash and slice an assortment of veggies for grilling. (Keep the slices fairly thick.) A few favorites include:

Whole or sliced portobello mushrooms (stems removed)
Zucchinis sliced in half lengthwise
¼-to ½-inch thick slices of onion
Eggplant
Potato or sweet potato
Fresh sweet corn sliced into 1-inch rounds
Halved fresh tomatoes
Large green onions roasted whole
Asparagus spears (best to par-boil these first to make sure they’re tender)
Whole carrots (also best if par-boiled first)
Pieces of sweet peppers (any color)
Cucumbers split in half lengthwise and deseeded
Slices of fennel bulb

Some veggies grill more quickly than others, so start the slow-cooking items first (potato slices, thick onion slices, corn rounds), the fast-cooking items later, and remove things from the grill (or set them off to the side) once they are cooked through.

To prevent sticking and add flavor, baste the veggies with olive oil before and during grilling. Once tender, sprinkle on salt and pepper and serve. (Or slice and chop the grilled veggies and toss with greens and dressing for a spectacular green salad.)

FYI, many fruits can also be grilled. A particular favorite is grilled slices of fresh pineapple, a great outdoor dessert!

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