5 Steps to Grill Vegetables

(Culinary.net) Burgers, brats, steak, chicken, pork chops and all the flavors of fresh meat get all the love on the grill, but a well-rounded meal calls for sides and veggies.

Before you plan your next backyard barbecue, incorporate tasty vegetables – peppers, asparagus, onions, tomatoes, zucchini and more – for an all-out blitz of fresh-grilled flavor. Consider these simple steps to properly grill your crispy veggies:

1. Light the grill. Step one, of course, is to prep a hot grill. For the best cooking experience, you’ll want medium-high heat or even high heat for quick, direct grilling. By lighting the grill ahead of veggie prep, you’ll allow plenty of heating time to complete your other tasks.
2. Prepare vegetables. Depending on what you plan to cook, there’ll likely be some preparation to undertake, such as cutting off stems and blemishes or removing pits and seeds. In addition to cleaning up your ingredients, you may want to chop, dice or slice based on the recipe.
3. Coat vegetables with olive oil. Drizzling just a small amount of olive oil over your vegetables and tossing to coat adds a couple benefits. First, it helps the outer layer crisp rather than dry out, plus it aids in seasonings – like salt and pepper – sticking to the vegetable instead of falling off while on the grill or in a pan.
4. Consider using foil packets or skewers. If char marks aren’t your thing, tossing chopped or diced veggies into a foil packet before hitting the grill steams them for a bit of a softer texture. Alternately, wooden skewers soaked in water (to prevent burning) can help keep smaller chunks of veggies from slipping through the grill grates while still achieving a crispy exterior.
5. Pay attention to grill times. Different types of vegetables and preparation methods call for different cook times, but 5-10 minutes over direct heat generally gets the job done. The smaller you chunk, chop, slice or dice, the less time it’ll take.

Find more grilling tips at Culinary.net.

SOURCE: Culinary.net

A few Grilling ideas:

Skewered Grilled Potatoes

These tasty potato skewers, flavored with rosemary and garlic, are grilled until crispy and tender. Great for summer barbecue parties.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds red potatoes, quartered
• ½ cup water
• ½ cup light mayonnaise
• ¼ cup dry white wine
• 2 teaspoons crushed dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• wooden skewers, soaked in water for 30 minutes

Directions

1. Place potatoes and water in a microwave safe bowl. Cook potatoes in microwave on high until just tender, about 15 minutes, stirring half-way through. Drain potatoes and allow to steam for a few minutes to dry.
2. In a large bowl, stir together mayonnaise, wine, rosemary, and garlic powder. Mix in drained potatoes and toss to coat. Marinate, covered, in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
3. Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat and lightly oil grate.
4. Remove potatoes from marinade, and skewer. Grill, covered, for 6 to 8 minutes, brushing occasionally with marinade, turning half-way through. Remove potatoes from skewers and serve hot.

Mexican Grilled Corn

Some consider Mexican grilled corn to be the greatest corn on the cob of all time. The way the subtly salted cotija cheese works with an ancho-lime mayonnaise, along with that buttery, smoky corn, is a magnificent combination of flavors!

Ingredients

• ½ cup mayonnaise
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 tablespoon ground ancho chile pepper
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 8 ears corn on the cob, husked
• ¼ cup butter, melted, or as needed
• ½ cup freshly grated cotija cheese
• 1 pinch salt, or to taste
• 1 lime, sliced

Directions

1. Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat and lightly oil the grate.
2. Combine mayonnaise, lime juice, ancho chile powder, and smoked paprika in a bowl; whisk until smooth. Refrigerate until needed.
3. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil corn in salted water for 5 minutes. Drain the corn.
4. Place ears of corn on hot grill and cook until the kernels begin to brown and caramelize, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn corn and continue to cook, turning ears after 1 to 2 minutes, until they are browned with slightly charred, caramelized spots.
5. Generously brush corn with melted butter and ancho-lime mayonnaise until kernels are coated. Sprinkle ears with cotija cheese and salt. Garnish with slices of lime.