Slice lengthwise and thin, brush liberally with olive oil, cross-hatch if the slices are too thick, sprinkle with salt and balsamic or pepper or BBQ sauce or ginger soy marinade or peri peri sauce or chermoula or whatever the heck you want, grill, flip, grill, NOM.
If you're a grilling n00b like I am, here's the longer story:
Experienced grillers say it's easy. I think grilling is tricky. I recently inherited a little mini charcoal grill and its dimensions make it hard to get the briquettes aglow. ("STAY LIT for the love of all that is charcoaly" etc.) If you're grilling with propane, it's just the turn of a knob, and veggies are a breeze (meat is another story). If your charcoal grill is small and shallow, though, the wind blows in and it takes some doing to get the coals hot.
Charcoal woes? DOS AND DON'TS
DO put a relatively thin layer of charcoal, shaped like a volcano in the middle (a little goes a long way)
DON'T overstuff, the oxygen can't get in
DO douse gently but not absurdly in lighter fluid and carefully light each contact spot without getting too close
DON'T use half a bottle of lighter fluid just because it's stubbornly not lighting and create a giant fireball that makes the neighbors come out to ask if everything's ok [NB this particular fireball was not mea culpa]
DO use firestarting squares if you're having trouble
DON'T add a bunch more lighter fluid and use extreme caution if you do need to add more, otherwise you can burn your face off
DON'T use lighter fluid to fashion a daring circus adventure hoop for cats and small dogs to leap through, it shall not end well*
*no animals were harmed in the grilling of these vegetables except a surplus of yellowjackets
Is it ready yet?
When most of the briquettes are turning white around the edges and you see some orange glow beneath, and when you feel a good heat coming off the grill, it's go time. If your grill is dirty, scrape off the gunk with your brush once the temp is up.
But whatever shall I grill?
How about this cornucopia of farmer's market veggies?
Good to grill:
-Eggplants of smaller size will work better than giant ones; the smaller the size, the faster they cook
-If your farmer's market sells baskets full of thin-skinned sweet peppers and zesty Japanese shishitos, you are in luck, because you can brush them in oil and grill them whole, and they taste fab with nothing but a sprinkling of salt
-Young sweet onions, halved
-A zucchini from my garden *beams with pride*
-A patty pan from my garden *ibid.
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| If you take away only one thing from this post, it is: I'm verbose. Oh, and, cut stuff thin and lengthwise. |
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| Brush with olive oil. If you have some flavorful salts, this is what they were born to do. The salt pictured is from Big Island of Hawai'i (Salty Wahine brand) and adds amazing flavor to everything it touches. |
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| You can grill as-is, or douse with balsamic as I did, or brush with other sauces and marinades. Just make sure your sauces don't have things that taste bitter when burned. Garlic can give flavor to the sauce, but don't leave chunks on there to char. Another solid option: Pour a tangy dressing or marinade on top when the veggies are done, and they soak it up like a sponge and taste like pickly antipasti. |
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| Fat slices of things should get cross-hatched so the oil and heat get in. |
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| If you can find these baby onions, you can cook them straight on the grill and they cook through; if your onions are too big, cut them smaller and cook in foil. |
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| Japanese shishito peppers: brush with olive oil and blister the surface, then sprinkle generously with salt. |
With this farmer's market feast, I also made cold soups that are perfect for summer, not pictured here because they don't contain Aubergines.
APPENDIX: Cold Soup Brief
Are you sweating buckets? Gross. Why would you fess up to that.
Good news: it's chilled soup time.
#1: best ever gazpacho, and no, it's not just a runny salsa / virgin bloody mary like you're used to.
Yes, it is worth the extra steps of emulsifying the olive oil slowly while the blades are running and then straining through a sieve. Yes, you should use a very mild onion and pepper, not a robust green bell that overwhelms. This is the most creamy, savory, refreshing, addictive vegan thing I've ever had. It is vital to use the highest quality tomatoes you can find, plus a good strong olive oil.
You don't have to throw away the solids if you don't want. They make a great base for Punjabi onion masala.
I ate it all in a day and a half. It was worth the heartburn.
#2: buttermilk beet borscht. Refreshing, tangy, salty, and a shade of fuchsia that belongs in Willy Wonka's R&D lab. This is a family recipe for which there is no real recipe, so I'm just writing the approximate summary here.
Buttermilk borscht:
Beets, steamed and peeled and boiled, or peeled and boiled, however you usually make borscht broth. Blend the beets into the broth using an immersion blender BUT FIRST leave out two beets, which you can chop into chunks and add after. That is: 75% blended, 25% chunky.
Add sour salt (or lemon juice), sugar, salt to taste. Achieve the right balance of sweet, salty, sour, but go easy on the sour because buttermilk is also tart. (If you don't have sour salt, do not substitute cider vinegar. It seems like it'll be fine but it just tastes nasty.)
When it cools to room temp, add fresh dill and buttermilk—enough to make it a vivid pink color. Chill overnight.
#3: cucumber yogurt soup. Creamy with a protein kick for starved vegetarians.
Contains: chopped cucumber, runny yogurt, lemon, dill, garlic, walnuts, salt, pepper. That's basically it. The walnuts add a great texture in the bottom of the bowl. This soup is kinda Georgian, kinda Bulgarian, but somewhat of a knock-off of those cuisines since their yogurt products are so different from ours.
AND NOW
n00bs of all kinds can get grilling and chilling.
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