First of all, I want to thank you all my wonderful readers for
your support and love! I am SO, SO flattered every time when I get an
email or a comment from you , especially, when asking to expand on
something I've posted on the blog.
So, here - as asked - the
Veggie BBQ how-to.
Cheese.
I had on hand 2 soft cheeses. I usually just check Whole Foods or Harmon's to see what's in season ( did you know there is such a thing as seasons for cheese? There is! ) which usually means two things : better tasting and cheaper.
Hard cheeses - I gathered the remnants of what supposed to be semi hard cheeses ( but turned to real nice and firm over the course of the week in the fridge) , cut in thick pieces, removed the rind ( unless ash washed - those I keep always).
Mozzarella ( fresh) balls.
Veggies and things:
Zucchini, eggplant, colored ( red and orange) peppers, corn, mushrooms, onions - bulb and green, parsley, mint, dill, fennel, garlic, broccoli , cauliflower, potatoes, EVOO , balsamic and red wine vinegars, sea salt ( I love the Celtic Gray sea salt), coconut oil.
Shrimp and shrimp sauce.
The process is really easy.
I love to marinade mushrooms just a bit - crush a TON of garlic ( way more then you think you need), mix salt , olive oil and you fav vinegar in equal proportions, through a bunch of spices that smell good, and lather your mushrooms with the mixture. Leave for at least 20-30 min. An hour would be awesome. Overnight in the fridge ideal. But , hey, whatever you can do will make a difference, even 10 min.
Cut eggplant in cubes or thick slices , rub generously with salt and leave for 20 or so min. Rinse well. Salt and water will neutralize the bitterness that eggplant has and soften it. You can marinade it afterwards too, if you wish.
Then we just let kids be as creative as they wanted to be. On bamboo sticks ( if you are a BBQ-ing pro, you'd probably have something better then bamboo sticks. We are new to this thing) I let kids put whichever combinations of veggies they wished, with one rule - there HAD to be one chunk of onion per 2-3 pieces of veggies.
Onions add amazing aroma and flavor. They went all creative - it was good too! The skewers consisted of something like pepper-zucchini-onion-mushroom-garlic-pepper-onion- zucchini... You get the picture. Then we grilled them as we saw fit.
Somewhere in there were also grilled:
*corn, rubbed with coconut oil and salt.
*mushrooms ( pre-marinaded and not), sprinkles with olive oil and vinegar afterwards to maintain the softness
*shrimp.
*broccoli and cauliflower.
*cheese on make-shift foil "plate" ( those hardened remnants) together with bread pieces - viola! cheese toasts at its best!
*simply grilled bread.
*potatoes baked in the ashes . just thrown in after the fire is gone.
What we made.
Apart from bamboo skewers, corn, shrimp, mushrooms and potatoes we did :
mushroom/mint salad:
grilled mushrooms
mint
onion
garlic ( grilled)
olive oil
vinegar
grapes ( green go best, imho)
cut , mix, and add fresh dill to the top. we loved it.
grilled veggie salad:
grilled:
zucchini
eggplant
green grilled onions * just the whole thing *
fresh:
tomatoes ( cherry/grape would be best)
dill ( torn in pieces)
parsley ( torn in pieces)
garlic ( crushed)
olive oil, vinegar, salt-pepper to taste.
mix together in a large bowl. this is a very much "camp-out salad", even though we weren't camping.
we also attempted the mozarella/cherry tomato salad but... most of the mozzarella got eaten before it made it to display, so I'll just show you would it WOULD look like, if it happened:
Desert was simple.
Watermelon, grapes, honeydew, peaches and apples. We didn't grill them. Just ate. You can cut watermelon in a very cute way - next time I will.
This time we just did my childhood old fashion method: half-moons with rind and dug in. You get dirty up to your ears. And that's what makes it taste best. I promise that we are cultured, and typically eat it with knife and fork, but ... sometimes its reaaaaally fun to forget about everything and just laugh.
I hope this helps. And considering a new weekend ( and fabulous weather!) is approaching, I hope you spend some time outside and grill your dinners! I doesn't have to be complicated to be fun . Just do what suits YOU best, and enjoy every minute!
Wishing you a HAPPY WEEKEND!
WE HOPE YOU HAVE FUN!!!
