Grilling

I have been a vegetarian for a very long time. While I've grilled vegetables in the past, I never really embraced the grill. We even used to have a DMZ (de-meat-erized zone) on our grill, demarcated by a line of aluminum foil wrapped around one of the grate's bars (what does one call the metal pieces that make up the grill top?). But the DMZ meant that my veggies were on the very edge of the grill, where they'd eventually cook, but not get charred.

I was missing out.

This year, I've started to grill using the whole grate.  Two weeks ago, we grilled garlic scapes, yellow zucchini, cousa squash, radicchio, baby carrots, beets, parsnips (the last ones from the fridge!), and a vidalia onion.

 This week, we grilled cabbage, fava beans, and scallions.

Start by prepping the veggies. Wash, trim, chop as needed... and then douse them in olive oil and top with generous sprinklings of salt and pepper.

I cut the cabbage, an arrowhead variety, into quarters.  It was long and seemingly thin (at least at the top).  In retrospect, it would have been better to try eighths (or maybe sixths) as the thicker part near the bottom didn't cook all the way through.

Here are the veggies from two weeks ago ready to go. I cut the larger beets in half, but left the others whole.

After grilling. Notice the char on the cabbage.  I used to be afraid of char, but no more. It's a very good thing.  I left the cabbage on for about 12 minutes. The end leaves and the tips were cooked well, but the leaves near the core were much less cooked.

 The garlic scapes grilled quickly.

Ready for the table. Both times, I served the grilled veggies with a dilled Greek yogurt (non-fat Greek yogurt, lots of fresh dill, salt and pepper - be sure to let it sit in the fridge for at least an hour, if not overnight).

I plan to do lots of grilling this summer. I was already enjoying the grilled veggies, but I'm a true convert after trying grilled cabbage.

Leftovers can be made into salad, chopped into small pieces. I know I mentioned this in an earlier post, but I didn't have photos. Here are a couple, one pre-toss and one post.

We weren't able to finish all of the fava beans. I made a small salad with those leftovers as well. After dinner, I popped the leftover beans into a container, then added the juice from a half of a lemon, some olive oil, and a leftover grilled scallion, chopped finely. I put it in the fridge to marinate overnight. Husband reports it was good.