Grilled Vegetables

One of my favorite grill recipes is assorted grilled vegetables.  The best thing about it is not only the grilled smoky flavor, but your can use pretty much any vegetable that is in season.  A couple of key gadgets you will need are a Vegetable Grill Basket/perforated Grill Wok and a spatula for keeping the vegetables from charring.  These items can be purchased pretty much anywhere that sells cooking supplies or grills.  The following recipe is one I came up with and use as a base.  I make add a different vegetable now and then to keep it different.

2-3 Zucchini squash

2-3 Yellow Summer Squash

1 Purple onion

8 oz. Sliced Mushrooms

Garlic Powder to taste

Salt and Pepper to taste

Extra Virgin Olive oil

1.   Preheat/Prepare a gas or charcoal grill for high heat.

2.    Slice zucchini and yellow squash into rounds and place in a large bowl (I use a mandolin slicer so all the squash discs cook evenly. 

3.    Add mushrooms.

4.    Cut up the onion in medium size chunks and add to bowl.  Depending on the size of the onion, I usually just peel and quarter the only and separate the layers.

5.   Pour enough Olive oil over the vegetables to coat them and mix the vegetables together by hand until all pieces are covered with oil.
  
6.    Add garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste and mix again.

7.    Once the grill is hot, place vegetable grill over the hottest part of the flame and pour in the vegetables.

 8.   Close the lid on the grill to let the smoke flavor the vegetables.9.      Keep an eye on the vegetables, stirring frequently so the vegetables do not stick or char.

10.  When vegetables are cooked to the firmness of your choice, remove from the grill and pour the vegetables back into the mixing bowl you used earlier.

        Serve hot with the meat or poultry of choice or over a bed of flavored rice (herb and chicken for example) or curried couscous (Near East is one of my go to quick cook couscous brands.)

Variations:  Add chopped asparagus, small cherry tomatoes, and fresh herbs like oregano, basil or thyme.  You can substitute your favorite seasoning also.  I like Cajun seasoning for this recipe a lot. 

Have fun and don’t be afraid to add whatever vegetable you like.  However, I don’t think root vegetables or raw potato will work well here.  They are best oven roasted.