The BGE and Vegetables

SkySaw

We talk a lot about cooking meat on the Egg, but I think that a vegetarian could use an Egg with as much frequency and satisfaction as the rest of us.

The things that make the BGE so special for cooking meat also make it great for vegetables - the ability to get complete control over the fire, the ambient temperature in the Egg, and the moisture retention make Egging vegetables for ratatouille and for grilled sandwiches a real pleasure.

I have been doing grilled vegetable sandwiches for dinner fairly regularly. Some grilled red peppers (whole, blackened, and peeled after they cool), and cut zukes and eggplant. I put the zukes and eggplant in a bowl with some salt and olive oil to coat them a bit. The zukes and the eggplant are cut to 1/8 to 1/4 inch thickness, and grilled on a 400º Egg for 5 minutes per side.

They come out great every time. i used to have to be really careful on the Weber Kettle to get them soft all the way through without drying them out or blackening the zukes/eggplant. No worries on the Egg!

One of the best parts of the sandwich is to take some fresh bread, brush both sides of each slice with olive oil, and once the veggies come off, grill the bread for 30-40 seconds on each side.

Spread some goat cheese and olive paste on the toast, and layer it up with the peppers, zukes and eggplant. For a real taste-treat, spread a little Bomba on it as well :woohoo:

I'd love to know some of your favourite ways to prepare vegetables simply on the Egg.

Mark

Knauf

I do a lot of squash (yellow and Zucchini), tomatos, red onion and bell peppers. I infuse EVOO with garlic and toss with the veg. Into a grill wok direct about 300-350 until semi-soft. Off the egg into a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. The steam softens them the rest of the way. Grill bread like above and then toss the veg with fresh basil, pepper and balsamic. Serve on the bread and watch it disappear.

NibbleMeThis

I love asparagus with grilled lemon on the egg for just a few minutes, then squirting the grilled lemon juice over the asparagus spears.


Corn & potatoes covered with lemon juice, butter, and Old Bay seasoning are great too.


Veggie Kabobs, veggie burgers, grilled corn, etc etc

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

simple olive tapenade on a portabello mushroom... i grill the gills down a bit, flip up, spoon with tapenade, maybe cheese, and finish cooking.

roast beets

roast pumpkin (with smoke) for pumpkin soup
grill asparagus, planks of sweet potatoes, slabs of zucchini

hard to cook them poorly no matter what you do

SkySaw

Knauf - that sounds amazing. I can't wait to give that a try.

Thanks for it.

Mark

SkySaw

Roasting the lemons with the asparagus is a great idea! i like to squirt some lime on my asparagus before grillng - now I am for sure going to roast some lemons or limes with it and sprinkle after.

Mark

NibbleMeThis

I can't take credit for that idea. I saw it on Flay or Tyler Florence. I just like how the juice takes on a more complex flavor after grilling the lemon first.

Hmmmm next time I have a recipe calling for lemon zest, I might grill the whole lemon first.

Mr. & Mrs Potatohead

We too...Do a lot of veggies roasted in the Egg!
They have always been great!

cdnewman

There is a farmer's market near our home every saturday morning. Several of the farmers are experimenting with exotic japanese varieties or heirloom veggies. They look so good, but I'm never sure what to do with them. The answer for us has been the egg: We have yet to encounter a firm veggie that couldn't be cubed or chunked, skewered with some mushrooms and onion chunks, dusted with garam masala/salt/pepper/oil and grilled at 425 with a bit of "wood of the day" smoke. Japanese eggplant, weird little green squash, orange beets, turnips, parsnips, even persimmons (I know, not a veg, but fantastic grilled). My wife thinks the egg paid for itself simply with what it does for eggplant.

Boilermaker Ben

Grilled asparagus is great, but I hadn't thought of grilling the lemon too. Sounds awesome. Will have to try this next spring.

We just tried grilled eggplant last week. My wife and I didn't like it as kids, but hadn't tried eggplant in years, so we decided to give it an honest chance. It was alright, but neither of us were head over heels for it. But my one-year-old daughter LOVED it.

SkySaw

Do you have any photos of how you do these vegetables?

You chunk them (like 1 inch square?) and then put them on skewers and roast them on the main grid at 425º?

Mark

Little Steven

Mark,

Try a fire roasted marinara.





Steve

fishlessman

in the summer i make a simple casserole with zuccinni and summer squash, simply sliced and layered with stewed tomatoes and cheese and baked till bubbly and soft. love the stuff. heres a rescent throwdown recipe that was great
Fried Green Tomatoes with Thai Sweet Chili Remoulade and Pineapple with a Sweet Chili Garlic Sauce

http://www.eggheadforum.com/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&Itemid=55&func=view&catid=1&id=723466

SkySaw

Youch, that looks good, Steve! If I can find the time today, that is going on for dinner tonight!

I'll post the evidence.

Mark

Little Steven

Mark,

The tin foil contains roasting garlic.

Steve

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

apparently he doesn't care what we have to sa, spuds.
hahaha

i was gonna post pics, but got lazy. ah well.

we cook veggies with every meal. never thought of it as anything different

fishlessman

stuffed grape leaves are good and can be made vegatarian, stuffed poblanos are also good
http://www.eggheadforum.com/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&Itemid=55&func=view&catid=1&id=347310

http://www.eggheadforum.com/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&func=view&id=190059&catid=1

fishlessman

no picks of a vegetable stir fry, but woked veggies are great as well

cdnewman

Sorry, I don't have a lot of pictures. Will try to take some next time we grill (if it ever stops raining).

In Texas, cremini mushrooms are cheap and plentiful, so I always have some on hand. I try to cut the vegetables to the size of a cremini mushroom, so yeah, about 1" to 1.5" square.

I use bamboo skewers, two per kabob.

Two nights ago, I had a leftover sweet potato, a japanese eggplant and a handful of shallots. I cut the sweet potato into rough chunks about 1", halved the shallots, sliced the japanese eggplant (the long, thin, bright purple ones) into 1" disks and kept the creminis whole. Tossed all the veggies in a bowl with EVOO, salt, pepper and garam masala (an indian spice combo I love), then skewered them, alternating one of each type until full. At 425, they took about 4 minutes/side over direct heat. We like our veggies on the crunchy side, but you could go 5/side if you like 'em a little softer. I also tossed some maple chips on the fire for a bit more smoky flavor.

I made a compound butter with some fresh sage from our garden and served the veggies piled over jasmine rice with a few dollops of compound butter on top.

Matt_inSC

My family really digs asparagus on the egg. We 'raft' them with toothpicks, drizzle EVOO, shake salt and pepper, and put them on the egg. I just cook them at whatever temp I have the egg going for the meat at the time.
First time I did it the kids fought over who got more