Fruits and vegetables provide key nutrients, vitamins, and other good-for-you things that are ALWAYS absent from processed foods, and they’re much easier for your body to digest. They give your body the power to fight off disease, and they give you the energy you crave to be the superhero you always wish you could be. We watched a documentary recently about the effects of red-meat diets on entire cultures of people, and it’s kind of shocking to find that places like China (whose diets used to mainly consist of rice and vegetables only) had almost NO cases of obesity or heart disease. Places like the US on the other hand, where the average diet is almost completely dairy and meat-based, heart disease and obesity are a huge concern. For those interested, get on Netflix and watch the documentary Forks Over Knives. I highly recommend it. Also, while you’re at it, check out Food Matters. I’m not a full-blown vegetarian, but Liz and I are going to be experimenting with it for a while during the week, eating small amounts of meat on the weekends. We’re curious to see how much better we feel, and how much weight we end up losing. For those skeptics out there who would ask “how do vegetarians get any protein without meat?” Beans. Nuts. Hummus. And for you non-vegans like me, eggs. Next question?
So, I digress. Many of us red-blooded Americans heavily associate the grill (that all-important summer cooking appliance) with MEAT. Delicious, charred, smoky, wonderful meat. When you smell the neighbor’s barbecue fire up, you probably don’t think about what kinds of veggies they’re grilling. I can tell you though, because of lots of things I’ve experimented with lately, veggies are now one of my favorite things to throw on the barbie. Not only are veggies better for you than meat, but they’re (usually) more ethical also. Here are my tips for making excellent veg.
- Get some heavy-duty foil or a couple disposable foil pans. Makes for quick and easy cleanup and maximum ease during the cooking process. All you have to do is throw everybody together in the foil pan (or make a foil packet), throw it on top of the grill, and let it go. Obviously stirring every once in a while is a must.
- Pick veggies that will taste good together. Really, the possibilities are endless. Below, I’ll list a couple of possible combinations and pairings to get your creative juices flowing.
- Cut all the veggies into pieces of a similar size. This will help them cook evenly and at around the same amount of time.
- Season with whatever combinations of spices you like. You could do up some southwestern veggies, with cumin, paprika, cilantro, lime, cayenne, and garlic. Or, you could do something Mediterranean with coriander, lemon, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper. I can tell you though, surprisingly enough, that no matter the flavor profile you choose, a dash of soy sauce makes it all taste amazing. Another secret ingredient: a dash of sugar. Really.
- Once you’ve got your veggies and seasonings selected, Toss them together in a big bowl with s couple tablespoons of olive oil, making sure all the pieces are coated. This helps things not to stick and burn too badly– although you want a little caramelization to happen. That’s kind of the point of the grill, right?
- I never measure seasonings. Many people insist on measuring, but I have never had an issue. All I do is put an even sprinkling of each seasoning over the top of all my veggies while they’re still in the bowl and stir it all in. You can always adjust the salt once they’re done if you want more.
- If you have access to a charcoal grill, it’s preferable because the flavor is so much more awesome. However, a propane grill also gets the job done.
- Adventure into fruit grilling territory also. Fruit has high contents of natural sugar, so it’s awesome combined with high levels of heat. You get the nice brown caramelization, and it’s wonderful. Just combine it with a little brown sugar and cinnamon, and you’re good to go. Maybe also consider adding some vanilla fro-yo.
Here are some great combos of veggies and seasonings for you to experiment with at home. All of these are great as side-dishes, but can be adapted to be served as paninis, wraps, and many other tasty things! (spoiler alert: one of these coming soon in a recipe!) I have tried each of these, and I promise they each rock.
- Straight-up zucchini: Just a simple zucchini on the grill with some olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Tasty, quick, simple, and healthy!
- “Godfather’s Choice”: Red and green peppers, onion, mushrooms, and zucchini cut in coarse, bite-sized pieces with garlic powder, salt, pepper, basil, and oregano.
- MediVeg Delight: Broccoli, onion, chopped tomato, mushrooms, red pepper, and zucchini all diced with soy sauce, cumin, coriander, garlic powder, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper.
- Corn-on-the-Cob: This can be done in many ways. This is how I would do it: soak several ears of corn in water for about an hour. Remove from water and wrap in foil. Then grill them on medium-high heat for about 10 more minutes. Serve with herbed butter: take 1 stick of room-temperature butter and mash together with 1 tsp. garlic salt, 1/2 tsp. dill, and 1/2 tsp. paprika.
It’s time to get creative. Let me know if you have any combinations I need to try, I’m totally looking for ideas. Grill away, Un-Snooty friends!
The Un-Snooty Foodie 