The Great Outdoors Kitchen: Your Grill

Grilling is great. Throw a few steaks, a couple of pieces of chicken or some fish on the barbecue and you’ve got dinner, right? Wrong. What you’ve got is meat or fish. Now where’s the rest of the meal?

It too can be on the grill. Once you have the fire going or the heat on, use the barbecue to cook the vegetables and potatoes. No fancy equipment is necessary, no special set-up required; in fact, no equipment more elaborate than a roll of aluminum foil is needed.

A grill, after all, is really just an outdoor oven with a built-in broiler. It follows that any vegetable you can roast, broil or steam can be made on the grill. When you’re trying to decide how best to cook a vegetable on an outdoor grill, just ask yourself how you would cook it indoors.

Too many charred vegetables were “grilled” on the grill, when they could have been improved by cooking another way. Think of carrots steamed with honey, new potatoes scented with rosemary, asparagus studded with caramelized garlic and even those same grilled zucchini slices cooked just enough to mark the surface and brown the edges.

Though anything can be made difficult, grilling vegetables does not have to be. If the vegetable could also be cooked in the broiler in the kitchen oven, it can be cooked right over the heat. Tomato halves or quarters, thin slices of zucchini, eggplant and onions all can be cooked this way. The vegetables should be seasoned with salt and pepper and lightly oiled before being placed on the barbecue.

When grilling vegetables, cut them into pieces or slices that are large enough to rest easily on the grill’s racks. Next, closely monitor the cooking, because it will go fast. And, if the vegetables show any charring or burning, move them to a cooler part of the grill to finish cooking there.

Some vegetables taste better if they are roasted on the grill. Scrub clean the outside of a baking potato and place it on a part of the grill that doesn’t have fire directly underneath. Then cover the barbecue and let the potato cook. Though the cooking time will probably be about 11/2 times that of a conventional oven, the creamy texture of the potato makes it well worth the extra minutes. Other vegetables that roast well in the oven can be treated similarly on the grill, once again using indirect or low heat. Make your own baking pan out of a double-thickness of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Pull up the edges on all four sides to form a rim. Place the prepared vegetable, tossed with oil, salt and pepper, on the foil “pan.” The pan then goes on to the grill, either avoiding direct heat or over a low heat. Cover the grill and let the vegetables cook.

Asparagus and chunks of summer squash are wonderful cooked this way. Not only do they roast well but they also pick up a slight barbecue flavor.

A combination of roasting and steaming on the grill produces some delicious vegetables. Make an aluminum foil packet to enclose sliced, diced or chunked vegetables and a small amount of liquid. The packet should be formed with extra room, but tightly seal the edges to capture any steam produced. The tight seal means only a little bit of moisture is required, often no more than the water left on the vegetables after they have been rinsed. The packets are placed on the grill, over indirect heat or very low heat, the grill is covered and the vegetables cook slowly, from 25 minutes to an hour. Carrots, green beans, chunks of peeled winter squash and new potatoes are some vegetables that fare well when cooked this way.

This is a sure-fire way to prepare corn on the grill: Rinse shucked ears of corn with water. Wrap each wet ear of corn in aluminum foil. These packets can be fairly tight. Place the corn directly over a medium heat. Turn the ears a few times during the cooking, which should take 20 to 25 minutes.

Unless you are grilling very thin slices of vegetables over direct heat, close the cover of the grill to trap the heat inside the barbecue and help the vegetables cook through. You want a steady even heat. Under the best of circumstances, the grill should be at 350 degrees with the cover on, but some grills are fickle about maintaining a steady temperature.

The fluctuating temperature of the grill, the frequent openings and closings and the general uncertainties of cooking outside make it virtually impossible to maintain the same steady heat you get inside on a conventional stove or in an oven. Assume that most vegetables will need 11/2 times the cooking time when prepared outdoors as compared with indoors. (The only way to know for certain is to experiment with your grill.)

Generally vegetables should be cooked on the grill before the meat. The exception to this rule is anything that will be grilled directly over the fire (though for practical reasons you may want to grill even those vegetables first and then serve them at room temperature). This group of vegetables, which includes zucchini, tomatoes and eggplant, will cook very quickly, but they are grill hogs --taking up most of the available space.

Once you have mastered the basic techniques, experiment with flavorings. Add herbs, spices and sweeteners to the foil packets. Roast vegetables with slivers of garlic and onion, diced tomatoes or chopped fruit. Add flavored butters to the ears of corn. Drizzle the grilled vegetables with dressings flavored with citrus juices, grated ginger or fresh herbs.

Above all, keep it simple. Choose fresh vegetables, cook them through and let the grill work its magic.

Heat Your Vegetables * DIRECT GRILLING

Method: Season the vegetables with salt and pepper. Brush them lightly with oil. Cook directly over medium to high heat, turning the vegetables so they brown evenly.

Preferred vegetables: Thin slices of zucchini and other summer squashes, sliced eggplant, halved or quartered tomatoes, sliced rings of sweet onion and whole green onions.

Timing: For thin slices, 3 or 4 minutes. Tomato halves, 8 to 10 minutes.

* GRILL-ROASTING

Method: Season the vegetables as desired. Toss them generously with oil. Make a rimmed baking “pan” from a double-thickness of heavy-duty foil. Place the vegetables on the foil, then place the foil pan on the grill. Cook, covered, preferably at about 350 degrees, over indirect or low heat. Carefully stir the vegetables once or twice while cooking.

Preferred vegetables: Asparagus; chunks of summer squash, tomato or eggplant; halved or quartered onions; halved or quartered leeks.

Timing: 20 to 45 minutes depending on the size or thickness of the pieces.

* GRILL-STEAMING

Method: Season vegetables as desired, adding oils or butter for flavor. Place the vegetables--either damp with water or with the addition of a few tablespoons of liquid--on a large sheet of heavy-duty foil. Form a loose, tightly sealed packet with the foil enclosing the vegetables and seasonings. Cook on a covered grill at about 350 degrees, placing the foil package over indirect or low heat. Shake the package once or twice during cooking or carefully open it up and stir the vegetables, resealing the foil before continuing the cooking.

Preferred vegetables: Root vegetables like carrots and parsnips; halved or quartered new, red or white potatoes; chunks of peeled and seeded winter squashes.

Timing: 40 to 60 minutes.

* NOTABLE EXCEPTIONS

Corn: Rinse shucked ears in cold water. Wrap them tightly in foil and place them directly over medium heat. Cover the grill and cook, turning, until done, 20 to 25 minutes.

Baking Potatoes: Scrub the outside and then place the potatoes over indirect or low heat. Cook on a covered grill until tender when pierced with a fork, 60 to 90 minutes.