Fast, Fresh & Green (24 page)

Since there are so many sauces and flavor boosts in the other recipes in this chapter, I have kept the finishing flourish simple. (You can certainly steal something like the Thyme-Dijon Butter on
page 177
or the Creamy Lemon Dressing on
page 182
, or you can drizzle your favorite vinaigrette over the vegetables.) But I think for a simple side dish—especially for a buffet or potluck—a drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon is sometimes the best way to enjoy that intense grilled flavor. I am not big on marinating vegetables (with the exception of mushrooms) before grilling. I think marinades can sometimes overpower the flavor of grilled summer vegetables or adversely affect the cooking, so I usually add flavor boosts afterward.

The directions here are for grilling just one type of vegetable. Depending on your grill and the vegetables you choose, you might be able to do two or more types of vegetables at the same time. And you can certainly do one right after the other, because grilled vegetables are great at room temperature. You do not have to do them to order (!) and you can cook them ahead.

For a party, have fun with the presentation. I like to use a big white platter, and starting at one end, I arrange sections of grilled zucchini, grilled peppers, grilled asparagus, grilled mushrooms, and grilled onions. After a drizzle of oil and lemon, I often garnish with both chopped fresh herbs and a few pretty herb sprigs. You could put lemon or lime wedges on the platter, too.

12 OZ/340 G YOUR CHOICE OF VEGETABLE
(see the table on
page 174
for choices and how to cut them)

¼ TO ½ TSP KOSHER SALT

EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
for coating and drizzling

¼ LEMON OR LIME

2 TSP CHOPPED OR TORN FRESH PARSLEY, MINT, BASIL, CILANTRO, OR TARRAGON;
or 1 tsp whole fresh thyme or oregano leaves

1
After choosing your vegetable
, preheat a gas grill to the temperature indicated in the table. Put a sheet pan or a platter next to the grill, so that you’ll have some place to put the vegetables as they come off the grill (some will cook faster than others). Make sure your tongs are handy, too.

2
Prep the vegetable
as indicated in the table. In a medium mixing bowl, toss the vegetable thoroughly with ¼ to 1/2 tsp kosher salt and the amount of olive oil called for in the chart. (Some vegetables, like eggplant, need more. Whole bell peppers, on the other hand, need none.) Alternatively, if the vegetables are sliced (like zucchini and eggplant), lay them out on a sheet pan and brush the oil on so that you don’t risk some slices soaking up more oil than others.

3
When the grill is hot
, use a wire grill brush to clean the grates. Arrange the vegetables, evenly spaced, directly on the grate and close the lid. Set a timer for the minimum grilling time given in the table. Open the lid, and check the undersides of the vegetables to see if they’re browned or marked. If so, use tongs to carefully turn them over. Then close the lid again. If they’re not well marked, continue cooking for another minute or two, check again, and flip. Transfer the vegetables to the sheet pan or platter as they finish cooking. (Don’t stack high-moisture vegetables like zucchini, as they’ll overcook. Vegetables that may need more interior cooking, like eggplant, onions, and mushrooms, can be stacked and even wrapped in foil to finish cooking.) Because of hot and cool spots on the grill, vegetables will cook at different rates, so you will want to move some vegetables around if they’re stuck in cool spots.

4
When all of the vegetables are cooked
, arrange them on a serving dish. (Whole peppers will need to be peeled and sliced first.) Drizzle a little olive oil and squeeze a bit of lemon over them. Garnish with the fresh herbs.

Serves 3 to 4

Yes, it’s true that grilled green beans are not the prettiest thing to look at, but they are really tasty, and they’re also an unexpected (and easy) preparation for a popular vegetable. This is one of the times when you’ll be really happy to have a grill basket on hand, as there’s no other good way to grill green beans (without losing most of them through the grates).

Once the grill basket is good and hot, all you need do is toss the beans in and stir (with tongs) from time to time. The more you stir, the more evenly they’ll cook. But since opening and closing the grill lid a lot releases heat, don’t stir them too, too much. It’s fine if some of them are darker than others. (The smaller ones will cook faster.)

You can serve the beans plain, but I especially like them with Thyme-Dijon Butter, flavored with mustard, lemon, capers, and thyme. Double it if you like. It keeps for a week in the fridge and is good on grilled meat as well as vegetables. Or feel free to substitute a flavored butter on
page 29
.

These beans would be nice with grilled chicken thighs and an arugula salad.

Thyme-Dijon Butter

2 TBSP UNSALTED BUTTER,
well softened

1 TSP DIJON MUSTARD

1 TSP CHOPPED FRESH THYME

1 TSP MINCED DRAINED CAPERS

½ TSP FINELY GRATED LEMON ZEST

1/8 TSP KOSHER SALT

12 OZ/340 G GREEN BEANS,
trimmed

1 TBSP EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL

¼ TSP KOSHER SALT,
and more if needed

FLOWERING THYME SPRIGS OR LEMON WEDGES
for garnish (optional)

1
To make the Thyme-Dijon Butter:
combine the butter, mustard, thyme, capers, lemon zest, and salt in a small bowl and mash together with a small spatula or a spoon. Refrigerate until using.

2
Put a grill basket
directly on the grate of your gas grill and heat the grill to medium-high. When the grill and the basket are hot, toss the green beans with the olive oil and ¼ tsp salt. Put them in the grill basket, toss, cover the grill, and cook, tossing the beans every couple of minutes with tongs, until all of the beans are limp and blackened in places (smaller ones will be very dark), 8 to 9 minutes.

3
Transfer the beans
to a mixing bowl (or a shallow serving bowl) and toss with 1 Tbsp Thyme-Dijon Butter (or more if you like) until the butter has melted and coated the beans. Taste and add more salt if necessary. Serve with thyme sprigs or lemon wedges as a garnish, if desired.

Serves 3

If you’re a fan of roasted peppers, you’ll be happy to know that you can roast them on your grill. The high heat that circulates around the pepper actually does a better job of blistering than the broiler, and it only takes about 10 minutes. Then all you have to do is steam the peppers in foil for 5 to 10 minutes, until they’re cool enough to peel.

I like to take advantage of how delicious the peppers are when they’re still warm, so I cut them in half, fill them with a bit of softened goat cheese, and spoon a beautiful cherry tomato dressing over the top. (Depending on how well your peppers hold together after roasting, I’ve given you two options for serving them; both are pretty.) Sure, this makes a nice side dish, but served on individual salad plates, it also makes a lovely starter for a summer gathering of friends. If you’re not crazy about goat cheese, you could substitute fresh ricotta.

3 BELL PEPPERS OF UNIFORM SIZE
(try mixing red, orange, and yellow)

3 OZ/85 G FRESH GOAT CHEESE,
at room temperature

1 RECIPE SUMMER CHERRY TOMATO DRESSING
(facing page)

6 SMALL SPRIGS FRESH BASIL

1
Preheat a gas grill to high.
Put the whole bell peppers directly on the grate, lower the lid, and cook, turning with tongs every couple of minutes, until the peppers are well blistered and blackened in places, about 10 minutes. (Blistering is enough to release the skin—don’t completely blacken all over or the skin will begin to stick to the pepper.) Transfer the peppers to a bowl and cover with foil. (Or wrap the peppers loosely in foil.) Let sit for 8 to 10 minutes. Over a sink or a bowl, peel the skin away from the peppers; it should come right off. Leaving the stems in, cut the peppers in half. Gently remove the seeds, but keep any accumulated liquid inside if you can (it has lots of flavor).

2
Depending on how intact
your pepper halves are, you have two choices for serving them: If they’re still cup-shaped, leave the stem end in. If they are somewhat flattened or torn, go ahead and remove the stem and the flesh clinging to it and let the pepper lie flat. Arrange the pepper halves on six salad plates. Spoon 1/2 oz/15 g goat cheese into or on each pepper half. Flatten the cheese and spread it out just a little (leave it somewhat mounded). If the pepper half is flat, fold one side of it over to enclose the cheese, ravioli-style (on the diagonal) and gently press down on it to flatten the cheese a bit. Spoon an equal portion of the tomato dressing over each of the six pepper halves, crossing from one side of the plate to the other. Garnish each with a small basil sprig.

Serves 6

This lovely dressing is really more like a fresh compote or a loose salsa. It’s the place to use your tiniest, prettiest, most colorful tomatoes (and not those large, tough cherry tomatoes from the grocery store). While this is delicious paired with the Grill-Roasted Bell Peppers on
page 178
, it’s also good over grilled eggplant and grilled skirt steak.

8 OZ/225 G SMALL CHERRY OR OTHER TINY TOMATOES,
halved or quartered, depending on size

3 TBSP EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL

2 TBSP THINLY SLICED DRAINED OILPACKED SUN-DRIED TOMATOES

1 TBSP THINLY SLICED FRESH BASIL LEAVES

2 TSP DRAINED CAPERS,
coarsely chopped

2 TSP SHERRY VINEGAR

2 TSP FRESH ORANGE JUICE

½ TSP MINCED FRESH GARLIC

¼ TSP KOSHER SALT

1
Combine all of the ingredients
in a small bowl and stir gently to combine. Let sit for 10 to 15 minutes (or up to 30 minutes) to let the flavors mingle and to let the tomatoes marinate a bit. Stir gently again before serving.

Yields about 1¼ cups/300 ml

I always pop a few of these yummy mushrooms in my mouth before I even get them into the house. If enough survive, I add them to a platter of grilled vegetables, toss them into a spinach or mizuna salad, or serve them with grilled skirt steak or shrimp. They’re also good in a steak sandwich.

I keep the marinade very simple for these, so there’s nothing subtle about the flavor (as if shiitakes were shy, anyway!). My method for marinating the mushrooms is a little unusual. I lay out the caps and spoon the marinade on top of them. I find this is best for getting the flavor where it needs to go without having to make a lot of marinade. One bit of advice—if at all possible, buy your shiitakes from a bulk bin, so that you can pick out the biggest ones. Large or medium caps are fine for grilling, but the little ones tend to fall through the cracks (though if they survive, they still taste good!).

The marinating time in this recipe is short, so heat your grill while you’re prepping, and you’ll soon have a quick side dish or salad ingredient.

8 TO 9 OZ/225 TO 255 G LARGE SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS,
stemmed (yielding 6 to 7 oz/170 to 200 g)

2 TBSP LOW-SODIUM SOY SAUCE

1 TBSP PEANUT OIL 1 TBSP SESAME OIL

1 TBSP RICE WINE

1 TBSP CHOPPED FRESH GINGER

1
Preheat a gas grill
to medium.

2
In a shallow dish
, such as a medium-size baking dish, arrange the mushroom caps in one layer, stem side up. In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, peanut oil, sesame oil, rice wine, and ginger. With a small spoon (like a 1/2-tsp measure), spoon some marinade over each cap, distributing the marinade as evenly as possible. Let sit for 10 minutes, and then toss to coat the cap side before grilling.

3
Arrange the caps
, stem side up, directly on the grill grate. Drizzle any leftover marinade on top of them if you like. Cover and cook until the caps are darkened or well marked on the bottom, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn over and cook just until the other side is marked, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve these right away on their own or use them as an ingredient in a salad or sandwich.

Serves 3 to 4