Everything a BBQ lover must know about grilling veggies

Tired of putting only steaks, chicken, and fish on your grill? If so, it’s time to grill up some veggies. You may have been grilling cob and corn, but that hardly counts. By not trying summer veggies, you’re missing out on something that tastes even better when grilled.

Here, we’ll give you one reason that’ll motivate you to start grilling veggies more often. As you may not know about easy-to-grill veggies, we’ll give the low-down on them. Last, to inspire you to barbeque crowd-pleasing veggies, we’ll share popular vegetarian recipes for you to try on your grill. Ready? Let’s get started.

It’s time to start barbequing more veggies

Adding more veggies to your meals is a smart and delicious way of eating healthy. And with summer’s bounty of veggies, you’ll find meal-planning with plants easier. But is grilling veggies healthy? As per a leading health and well-being website, grilling veggies and even fruits is healthy. [1] Why? When you grill vegetables or fruits, the hazardous HCAs and PHAs—cancer-causing compounds—don’t form on them.

The reason is that veggies don’t have fat inside them. Whenever vegetables are grilled, they don’t drip fat on the grill element. Since no fat is dripped from veggies, flare-ups don’t happen to flap back these harmful compounds on the food. Another interesting fact is that most veggies retain more minerals and vitamins when they’re grilled. The retention of minerals and vitamins is much higher when the veggies have low water content. [2, 3]

Besides being healthful, grilled veggies taste heavenly. Grilling vegetables takes out the roasted, deep sweetness from inside them while softening and flavoring them. A grilled vegetable will always have a smoky, lush char that’ll not just look good but even taste amazing. Even better, you can add grilled veggies to Mediterranean grain bowls, sandwiches with ricotta cheese, or a pasta salad that has avocados.

Now that you know why it’s a nice idea to start barbequing more vegetables, you may also want to know the top veggies to grill.

7 easy-to-grill vegetables for your next BBQ party

Zucchini

This veggie—yellow or green—works nicely when grilled. Make sure to cut it into 1/3″ to 1/2″ slices before tossing it on your grill. If you try to cut zucchini too thin, they’ll fall apart.

Eggplant

Grilled eggplant tastes heavenly. When grilled, this vegetable becomes creamy, smoky, and lusciously tender.

Mushrooms

You can pick large brown mushrooms or Portabello mushrooms. There’s no need to slice the mushrooms. Instead, just grill them completely.

Carrots

When you grill carrots, they become soft quickly. Grilling carrots the right way also gives an attractive tiger-striped presentation.

Asparagus

Opt for fat asparagus because this veggie will cook more evenly than a skinny one and won’t even slip through the grates.

Broccoli

When it comes to grilling veggies, broccoli is one of the best options because you can slice it as steaks or even grill in florets.

Romaine lettuce

Having grilled Romaine lettuce gives it crisp, hot, browned ruffled edges that look good and taste amazing. When you properly grill this veggie, it turns tender inside but still has a serious crunch to it. You now know the top veggies that can be your go-to choice to grill. But just knowing about grilled vegetable options is half the battle. You have to know the exact recipes of barbequing veggies the right way. So, we’re sharing 2 of our favorite vegetable BBQ recipes with you.

2 meat-free recipes for you to try on your grill

Finding mouthwatering vegetarian grilling recipes can get tricky. Think of the boring grilled corn, sprouts, and Brussels. After all, plant-based eaters also deserve some exciting BBQ options. To help you get started, we’ve rounded up some delicious vegetarian BBQ recipes that’ll even be enjoyed by meat lovers.

Zucchini and peach salad

Up for a zucchini-and-peach salad to make your summer brighter than usual? Well, then, try this recipe.

Ingredients

• Zucchini (3)
• Raw macadamia nuts (up to 2 ounces)
• Peaches (3)
• Water (1 cup)
• Extra-virgin olive oil (3 teaspoons)
• Salt
• Lime juice (1 tablespoon)
• Xanthan gum (1/2 teaspoon)
• Agave nectar (1 tablespoon)

How to cook

1. Grab a bowl and dunk macadamia nuts in water. Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and let it remain like that overnight at room temperature.
2. Pour the water and nuts into a blender. Blend it until the whole thing becomes pasty. Strain the nut milk from the paste and sieve it into a fresh bowl. Make sure you properly squeeze the solids for the paste to extract milk.
3. Properly rinse the blender and then return the extracted milk to it. This time, add agave nectar and lime juice. With the machine on, add xanthan gum. Blend for about 1 minute until the cream is airy and light. Scrape the cream into a bowl and sprinkle salt over it.

Grilled eggplant parmigiana

Flame-kissed grilled eggplant parmigiana has a smoky flavor that’ll tantalize your taste buds like never before.

Ingredients

• Olive oil (1/4 cup)
• Finely chopped garlic (2 cloves)
• Dried red-pepper flakes (1/4 teaspoon)
• Crushed tomatoes (a 15-ounce can)
• Salt (1/2 teaspoon)
• Basil (1/4 cup; coarsely chopped)
• Parmigiano-Reggiano (1/4 cup; finely grated)
• Italian eggplants (4 small pieces; 1/2 pound apiece)
• 16 thin slices whole-milk mozzarella (from a 1-lb block; not fresh)

How to cook

1. Start with heating 2 tablespoons of oil. The oil must be heated in a heavy 12-inch skillet over moderate heat until it gets hot. But make sure the oil doesn’t touch its smoking point. Afterward, stir and cook red-pepper flakes and garlic for almost 30 seconds. Add salt and tomatoes and start cooking.
2. Stir it for nearly 6 minutes until the whole thing gets thickened. Once it’s thickened, remove it from heat and start stirring parmesan and basil. Ready a gas grill for cooking over moderate heat.
3. Shave 1/4 inch off from each eggplant’s opposite long sides. Cut every eggplant length-wise into 4 slices; the cut must be made in the same direction as the shaved sides. Brush the slices with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil.
4. Start grilling the eggplant and grill until it becomes tender. The grilling must last for at least 6 minutes. Once the grilling is done, transfer the grilled eggplants to a worktop.
5. Spread the top of every eggplant slice with nearly 1 tablespoon of tomato sauce and put a slice of mozzarella cheese. Afterward, restack every eggplant. Transfer the stacks to a grill and a shallow baking pan and cook for 4 minutes until the cheese melts.

These recipes will help you prepare a tasty and gorgeous veggie tray for your next cookout.

Summing it up

Now, you definitely know a thing or two about grilling veggies. You’re in the know about the best veggies you can put on your grill this summer. To get you started with barbecuing veggies, we’ve dropped two of our favorite recipes too. So, now, it’s your turn to make an amazing grilled vegetable platter that’s a real treat to taste buds. Once you’ve done grilling veggies, tell us in comments about your experience. We’re all eyes!