How to make great grilled veggies

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Once Oregon springs can be measured in sunlight hours rather than muddy shoeprints across the kitchen floor, grilling season has arrived.

It’s a form of cooking I have always loved, whether it was during my college apartment days when I made do with a hibachi on the balcony, my high-country adventure years with a portable grate and packed-in charcoal briquettes, or the fancy-schmancy phase we’re in now where I have three options to choose from: a charcoal grill, a gas grill and an electric smoker. Each style produces different, yet delightful, results.

Gas grilling is more convenient and less messy, but I prefer the flavor of food that’s been grilled over old-fashioned charcoal or our fabulous electric auger-driven Traeger smoker. So we keep all kinds of grills on the premises.

With so much grilling equipment around, it’s only natural that I’ve broadened my repertoire to include a wide range of grilling ingredients — beyond meat, fish and poultry. Indeed, vegetables are a natural for the grill because they develop such an irresistibly sweet and smoky flavor during the process.

Whether you’re eating vegetarian style all of the time, part of the time, or simply want to create some interesting side dishes to cozy up next to a meat-based meal, the following recipes should raise your grill chef status around the neighborhood — particularly as the lovely aroma of toasting onions and peppers wafts its way noseward over the backyard fence.

Tips for grilling vegetables

• Consider purchasing a vegetable grill rack, or “grill topper,” as they’re sometimes called. It’s simply a metal sheet (some of them are enamel-coated), with holes cut out of it to allow flames and smoke to touch and penetrate the food. The holes are small enough to prevent cut vegetables from falling into the fire. Shapes range from square to rectangular (which usually have narrow edges on three sides) to wok-shaped for simple stir-frying. They are designed to allow you to cook cut-up vegetables that would otherwise fall through the wide grate on your grill. Advantages: It allows you to actually saute over an open flame, which is a quick and easy way to add flavor to your veggies.

• To keep veggies moist, brush or toss with an oil or marinade before cooking, which also helps to prevent sticking to the grill.

• For even cooking, vegetables should be grilled whole or cut into similar-size pieces.

• Vegetables cook quickly on the grill (usually within 5 to 10 minutes).

• To prepare a tasty corn garnish for soups or salads, simply brush husked ears of corn with olive oil or melted butter and grill, turning occasionally, until tender and grill-marked (about 7 to 10 minutes).

• A great resource for tips and recipes for cooking veggies on the grill: “The Vegetarian Grill” by Andrea Chesman.

— Jan Roberts-Dominguez is a Corvallis food writer, artist and author of “Oregon Hazelnut Country, the Food, the Drink, the Spirit” and four other cookbooks. Readers can contact her by email at janrd@proaxis.com, or obtain additional recipes and food tips on her blog at www.janrd.com.