Grilling For The Health Of It

Sure you break out the BBQ for a thick steak or a slab of ribs, but vegetables deserve equal attention on our favorite outdoor appliance. That’s right, most of the time we treat our veggies as a side order, but once grilled they warrant center stage. Perfect in salads, sandwiches, pasta—even on their own—grilled vegetables yield hearty flavor without weighing you down. Here are few tips to make them even better:

Oil ‘em up. It’s important to marinate vegetables or brush them with oil prior to cooking so that they don’t stick to the grill. To prevent scorching flames and eliminate a few extra calories, make sure to allow excess oil to drip off prior to placing vegetables onto grill. In our Grilled Asparagus Salad, just add salt and pepper to the mix and it’s good to go.

Think thick. Cut vegetables for the grill in slices thicker than you expect to eat. Most veggies have a high percentage of water which means they’ll shrink as they cook. Cut them too small and they’ll risk falling through the cracks. Instead, trim them to your ideal size after cooking like we do in this Grilled Orzo Salad. You’ll see it’s quite a bit easier than training those tiny pieces to stay on the grill rack.

Let them rest. Once vegetables are cooked, allow them to sit in their juices for a few minutes prior to serving. They taste best at room temperature. Try this Grilled Summer Corn Salad and you’ll see that the natural juices are the best dressing of all.

Stick with it. When grilling smaller pieces like cherry tomatoes or California Ripe Olives, use a skewer to prevent pieces from falling into the grill.  When grilling multiple vegetables on one stick like we do with out Grilled Scallop Skewers, make sure to choose vegetables that cook at similar rates to prevent over or undercooking.