Grilling Vegetables – The Healthy Barbecue Option

Grilling vegetables is a healthy alternative to the recipes for the grill. Everybody enjoys a barbecue! There are few things better than being outdoors with family and friends, enjoying the warm weather, while a grill full of delicious food cooks in the background. A healthy, and often overlooked, cookout alternative is to try grilled vegetables along with, or instead of, more traditional barbecue options. It turns out that, when properly prepared, grilled vegetables can be among the tastiest things you or your family and guests have tasted. The best part is that preparing vegetables for grilling couldn’t be easier.

The first step in preparing grilled vegetables is learning which types of vegetables are best suited for the barbecue. While nearly every variety of vegetable is capable of being grilled, some are better than others. In general, larger vegetables cook evenly and are easier to manage on the grill than smaller vegetables. Also, sturdier vegetables tend to handle the grilling process better than their more fragile counterparts. This means, for example, that bell peppers are a perfect choice for the barbecue, while broccoli is not. Other good choices include onions, zucchini or summer squash, and corn on the cob. Don’t forget to experiment, however. Sometimes, more exotic, lesser known, vegetables are perfect candidates for the grill. Radicchio and endive are delicious when grilled, as is fennel. In each case, the bitterness found in the raw plant is tempered by exposure to the flames.

The next step in making grilled vegetables is proper preparation. Start by slicing the vegetables to provide maximum exposure to the heat from the grill. You first want to remove all end pieces, pulp and seeds and then halve or quarter the vegetable in question. A rule of thumb is larger, regular sized pieces work better than smaller, irregular sized pieces. In addition, some vegetables, onions and mushrooms in particular, benefit from the use of a skewer. Always use stainless steel skewers. They are reusable and easier to manage. Stay away from bamboo skewers which tend to burn. Once the vegetables have been cleaned and sliced, place them in a large bowl of cold water for 30 minutes or so. This allows them to soak up a bit of water which will help prevent burning once they are on the grill.

While the vegetables are soaking, fire up your grill. Vegetables grill best over medium heat, so the key here is to prevent the grill from getting too hot. If you can hold your hand several inches off the grill for for three or four seconds, you’ve got the temperature just right. Take your vegetables out of the water, pat them dry, give them a quick brush of olive oil and place them on the grill. Not all of the vegetables will cook at the same rate, so be prepared to take different vegetables off the fire at different times. You want to lightly char the vegetables, but not burn them. When the side of the vegetable closest to the fire has browned and is marked by the grill, it’s time to turn it over. Only turn the vegetables once. When the other side is also browned and marked by the grill, that vegetable is done and it’s time to take it off. Grilled vegetables taste best at or just above room temperature, so serving is easy. Simply place all the grilled vegetables in the same bowl or on the same plate and let them cool for ten or fifteen minutes.

Grilled vegetables are easy once you know the tricks. Remember, when you’re grilling vegetables, you’re grilling smart.

Outdoor gas grills offer everything, and can do everything, that a charcoal grill can do and more. Outdoor gas grills run on liquid propane. Liquid propane is basically regular old natural gas under pressure. The advantages of burning propane are many, but the main one is…(wait for it)…no charcoal! Yup no hassle, no mess, no waiting and no ashy clean up. Outdoor gas grills are ready to cook when you are. All you do is turn on the gas, hit the ignition button and voila! You’re ready to get grilling. Why? Because liquid propane is a very efficient heat producer, much more so than mean, old charcoal. Outdoor gas grills are at grilling temperature about five minutes after you light them. Uber-convenient, no? Also outdoor gas grills come with at least two burner controls. This means you can easily turn the heat up on one side of the grill while keeping a more even heat on the other side. Try doing that on a charcoal grill without an asbestos glove. Oh and did I mention, no ash?

The first thing to decide is charcoal or no charcoal. The charcoal grill has many advocates and its list of defenders is long. However a charcoal grill has one major problem – charcoal. (Oh, and lighter fluid and while we’re at it where did I put those matches?) The problem with charcoal grills is that they need charcoal to work. Charcoal that is heavy. Charcoal that is messy. Charcoal that you never have enough of just when you’re ready to grill. (Not to mention lighter fluid and matches…again.) Even if you do have enough of everything you need to get the fire going, you still have to wait for the coals to get hot, you have to move the coals around if you’re cooking more than one thing at a time and after you’re done what have you got? A grill full of ashes. Yeah, yeah I know that incinerating lighter fluid is one of the smells that brings back childhood memories, but how many things does a responsible adult buy based solely on smell? No charcoal. Let’s move on.

Finally, outdoor gas grills are really, really efficient. A tank of liquid propane will last the average outdoor chef an entire summer. Even the most maniacal flame junkie won’t run out for 4 to 6 weeks. Plus, propane is environmentally friendly. You are reusing and recycling the propane tank every time you get a refill, you’re saving trees (charcoal is made of compressed sawdust, sawdust is made of wood, wood comes from…you see where I’m going) and propane gives off way less carbon dioxide than charcoal. All the bunnies in the world will thank you!

See! Wasn’t that easy? Deciding to grill on outdoor gas grills really is a no-brainer.

Outdoor electric grills provide the heat of a charcoal grill without any open flames whatsoever. There is no charcoal, lighter fluid, matches or propane tanks to deal with. All that an outdoor electric grill requires is access to a power source and it is good to go. How is this possible? It’s fairly easy. Outdoor electric grills use an electrically powered heating element to provide the initial heat source. This heating element is similar to what you’d find on an electric stove. Electric barbecue grills then kick it up a notch by using parabolic reflective surfaces to intensify the heat produced by the heating element. The process is so effective that electric grills can match the temperatures produced by either charcoal or gas grills. That’s right. No matter what you may have heard, electric bbq grills can easily reach the 600 degree temperature necessary to sear meat. This means that there is no difference in the look or taste of food cooked on an electric grill and food cooked on traditional charcoal or gas grills. Well, except for the skill of the barbecue chef, or lack thereof.

Another advantage of an outdoor electric grill is the ease of clean up. Unlike charcoal grills, there are no ashes to clean up. This is especially important for people who are grilling in a small outdoor space like a balcony. The last thing you need is fly ash coming in through your balcony doors or, worse yet, your neighbor’s doors. Also, cleaning an electric grill is a snap. The heating element in the grill lifts out and easily fits in the sink or dishwasher. Plus, the smaller size of the average electric grill means that it’s a breeze to wipe out the interior.

An electric barbecue grill is also much more environmentally friendly than a charcoal or gas grill. A charcoal grill produces massive amounts of carbon dioxide when it’s in use. In fact, a charcoal grill produces so much carbon dioxide that it can be life threatening if used in an enclosed space like a garage. Not so an electric grill. Electric grills produce zero carbon dioxide when used. In fact, the only emission produced by an electric grill is the delicious smell of barbecued food. If you’re interested in helping the environment, an electric grill is one way to reduce your carbon footprint.

So what are you waiting for? Step into the new age of barbecuing. Outdoor electric grills are the greener, cleaner way to enjoy that great cook-out taste.