When the heat is intense like it has been, I do everything I can to stay out of the kitchen. These last couple of weeks, we’ve been using our grill to cook everything (even bread!) and it’s been a big help in keeping our south facing kitchen cool. Grilling vegetables really gives them a unique flavor. It brings out the sweet caramelized flavor of the vegetable and leaves them with a hint of smokiness. It’s relatively quick and takes very little prep. You can keep dinner simple by adding some chicken, beef, or veggie burgers to the grill and prepare your whole meal outside.
Here are some tips for grilling veggies and some recipes below:
- Lightly coat the vegetables with olive oil, salt & pepper. I find that tossing them works best to get an even coat and you don’t want to get too much oil on them or it can cause flare-ups while grilling.
- Vegetables are best grilled at a medium high temperature–around 400 degrees.
- Some vegetables take a minute or two to cook while others take longer. Denser vegetables, such as potatoes, carrots & beets will take the longest to cook. To keep them from getting charred on the outside and raw on the inside, sear them first on high heat and move them to a cooler part of the grill to finish. You can also precook vegetables that take a long time by boiling them and finishing them off on the grill to bring out the flavors.
- Use skewers for smaller vegetables that can fall through the grill or put them in a grill basket (a handy investment). Remember to load your skewers with vegetables that cook at similar times.
- If you want your vegetables to cook more quickly, cut them into smaller pieces. You’ll get more surface area for a crispy outside and faster cooking times.
- If you don’t feel like standing by the grill watching your vegetables. Cook them in a foil packet. Check out this article for further instructions.
Making the Most of Your CSA 