Summer is here and outdoor grilling is at its peak. When we think about grilling we think about meat because that is what most of the TV advertisers show us doing. Plus we are great meat eaters here in the good old USA .
As many of across America are learning that we do not need all the meat we consume we are learning how to really cook our vegetables without cooking them to death. We are also learning to cook with herbs yet we rarely think about grilling our vegetables and especially with herbs.
As an avid organic gardener who long ago decided the best way for me and my family to use our outdoor grill was to have a gas fired one as opposed to the charcoal method. This is just my personal opinion as one who is a cancer survivor and has gotten quite quirky about what goes into my mouth.
Eating lots of meat is one of them, eating overcooked vegetables that have been boiled to death and throwing the cooking liquid down the drain with all the good stuff that has been cooked out of them is another. Yet, I love food, good food, with lots of flavor and I have learned how to really cook vegetables that taste hot, crisp, flavorful, looking good and tasting good.
One of those ways is quickly grilling them. Prior preparation is the key to all this. Choosing the vegetables, cleaning them, slicing them in half, leaving them whole, or whatever I intend to do with them and having my Extra Virgin Oil Olive handy with a good brush that can take the heat or flame of my gas grill. I make sure I have the herbs finely chopped and ready to go and any cheese or other toppings I may want to add.
If the vegetables I decide to grill have been sliced then I have to worry about them dropping through my grill spaces so I have two nice convenient grilling accessories I use. One is a cast iron grilling pan. This pan has ridges on one side and smooth surface on the other and I can decide which I want to use. This pan has to be pre-heated on my grill prior to putting my veggies on it. The other is a grill wok that is like a regular wok with lots of holes in it and once I get that hot and brushed with the EVO I can just pop my veggies in and cook them until al dente, brushing them occasionally with some olive oil and adding my freshly chopped herbs.
The herbs depend on the vegetables and mostly consist of chopped thyme, parsley, chives and marjoram. I often add freshly chopped basil, mint or fresh oregano especially when I am grilling peppers.
Try this method of cooking and you might like it. I have gotten to the point that I can use that flat grill pan on top of my gas stove and grill vegetables all year round. Plus I can put it under the broiler and have the same effect.
