This July 4 should not just be about grilling hamburgers and hot dogs. Vegetables can work just fine on the outdoor grill, says Sandy Proctor, Extension food expert with Kansas State University. She discussed the idea of cooking fresh veggies this holiday season.
“I think grilled vegetables are really an opportunity to show what you can do on the grill and impress the people around your table, and it’s so simple,” Proctor said in an interview with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “One of the easiest ways to have vegetables on the grill, and again this is something that really looks nice and can put all of your favorites there is a vegetable kabob.”
Just about any vegetable can be used for grilling except for cucumbers, celery and leafy greens. Cooks this July 4 need to remember that some vegetables do require more time to cook than others.
“I would do more solid ones like a pepper, onion, mushroom and a little chunk of zucchini together and then at the very end I might just add a cherry tomato at the tip of the skewer. That would finish up with the ones that had already started cooking. You just have one thing to pick up off the grill, and everybody has a big, beautiful serving of vegetables to add to their meal,” Proctor said.
Another way to cook the vegetables is to lump them into a foil pocket.
“Maybe spray it with some olive oil, and you can add all kinds of things in there. You can add herbs in there and just make a foil dinner of just vegetables. They’ll just grill up wonderfully,” Proctor said. “They’ll steam themselves, and their flavors will mingle and be really good.”
Cook time for the foiled vegetables is 15 to 20 minutes.