The Miracle of Grilled Veggies

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Sublime –  This album seriously makes me want to drinks 40’s on my back porch while grilling up some veggies. It’s classic summer hits will inspire you to grill up the meanest stuffed mushroom caps on this side of the block. For reals, yo – toss those carrots in a ginger-nutmeg sauce – cause Lovin’ is what I got – for some grilled veggies.

 

 

Ingredients:

Here are some of my favorites:

• Carrots ~ leave them whole, wash (don’t peel) and trim the ends.
• Sweet Potatoes ~ wash (don’t peel), trim ends and cut into thick slices. Soak in
• Zucchini & Squash ~ trim the ends and cut into thick quarters or slices
• Sweet Peppers (green, orange, yellow and red) ~ cut off stem, cut into 4 or 5 large slices and remove seeds
• Onions ~ peel and cut into really thick slices (leave all the rings together)
• Asparagus ~ trim ends, leave whole (buy the thicker stalks so that they don’t slip through the slots on the grill)
• Corn on the Cob ~ leave in the husk (removing any excess corn “silk” – the hairy stuff)
• Mushrooms ~ whole portabellas and whole baby bellas

 

How we did it:

1. Some of the starchy veggies I soak in a sink of water for about 20 – 30 minutes– sweet potatoes, corn on the cob and carrots.
2.  Heat the grill on a med-high heat until it reaches an even temperature all over. Toss the veggies in light oil and spices of your choice. A basic Italian blend works great as a basic flavoring for everything. Everything cooks at a different speed, but there are a few that take a bit longer.
3. Corn on the cob takes about 20 minutes, and you need to rotate it several times to make sure all sides are cooked evenly. Soaking it in the water helps it steam in it’s husk.
4. Carrots and sweet potatoes are a bit thick, and I think they taste better when they get charred on the outside. It gives them a very rich and slightly sweet flavor. I like to use a light sprinkle of ginger, garlic, and cinnamon to give them a unique flavor.
5.  The baby portabella mushrooms are great as an appetizer if you stuff them with cheese, tomatoes and herb. Grill the bottom for a few minutes, and then move to the top shelf to finish cooking. The cheese and tomatoes will warm, and the mushroom will get juicy and tender.

Okay, you get it. Grill the sh** out of everything. Veggies are good grilled.

Plan of Action – grill WAY more than you think you need. Load it up, rotate it, put stuff on the warming shelf and grill some more. You can use grilled veggies for multiple meals throughout the week – pizzas, omelets, wraps, and salads!

Grilled Veggie Salad 

•  Take the leftover grilled veggies and chop into bite-sized pieces.
• Add beans (kidney, black, chickpeas, edamame)
• Add a chopped, hearty green (romaine, chard, kale)

I added chopped kale, kidney beans and edamame to my salad with grilled carrots, sweet potato, onion, red pepper, zucchini, onion, asparagus and corn (cut off the cob).  If you already seasoned your grilled veggies, you won’t need to add much to your salad. A light dressing (balsamic & olive oil) works nicely, but the veggies add so much flavor as it is – so go easy.