Summer’s Secret Ingredient: Grilled Vegetables

By Susie Middleton Fine Cooking Issue 51

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After many summers of grilling for my family and friends, I’ve developed a strategy that solves a problem (grill congestion) and opens up a great opportunity to be creative at the same time. By grilling vegetables ahead of time, I free up the grill for the steaks or chicken or burgers at dinnertime. And give myself the chance to turn my grilled vegetables into terrific salads, side dishes, and sauces—or just arrange them nicely on a platter. Luckily, grilled vegetables are delicious at room temperature; they don’t need to be served hot off the grill. And they keep well, too. Grill a few hours—or a day or two—ahead.

I’ve also finally made friends with the gas grill. It’s not a perfect relationship—I still think everything tastes better cooked over a charcoal fire—but it certainly is a convenient one. So I’ve adapted my favorite recipes and my techniques for prepping and grilling (see the guide below) to the gas grill. I’ve discovered that using a gas grill on its highest setting (of course, the more Btus, the better) with the lid down, gives excellent results.

If you do decide to grill vegetables ahead of time, here are a few storage tips. They’ll be fine at room temperature for a few hours. To keep the vegetables longer, refrigerate them in layers in shallow pans. Cover each layer with plastic and store for up to two days. (Peppers and onions hold particularly well; zucchini and eggplant will still taste great but may lose some luster. The “topping” just gets better after a day or two.) Be sure to bring the vegetables to room temperature before serving, since their flavors will be subdued if they’re cold. You can assemble the “roll-ups,” “sandwiches,” and platters several hours ahead, too, and keep them covered with plastic in the refrigerator.

A pretty platter makes a great buffet dish

To assemble a grilled vegetable platter, arrange slices of each vegetable, overlapping slightly, in groups or rows. Choose any combination of vegetables you like (include plenty of peppers for color) and follow the directions in the guide below for grilling them. Start with about 3/4 lb. raw vegetables per person. Season the grilled vegetables with a little more salt and a few grinds of pepper and drizzle with a bit more extra-virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon. Or dress the vegetables lightly with your favorite vinaigrette, or garnish with chopped fresh herbs like parsley, chives, basil, mint, or thyme.

A guide to cooking vegetables on a gas grill

Zucchini and summer squash – To prepare: Trim off both ends. To make lengthwise slices for roll-ups, trim a little off two long sides of the zucchini and cut the remainder into lengthwise strips, each about 1/4 inch thick. To use zucchini and summer squash on platters or in salads, trim the ends and cut slices on a sharp diagonal into ovals between 1/4- and 3/8-inch thick. Brush both sides of the strips or slices with plenty of olive oil and season with kosher salt just before grilling.

To grill: Heat a gas grill to high. Put the strips or slices on the grill at a 45-degree angle to the grates and grill, covered, until well browned and limp, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Check occasionally and move the slices around gently with tongs as necessary so that they brown evenly; don’t undercook them. When done, remove them from the grill and drape them over a cooling rack (to keep them from steaming as they cool).

Onions – To prepare: Trim the ends, peel, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Thread the slices on thin metal skewers (poultry lacers work great) or soaked wooden skewers. Brush liberally with olive oil and season with kosher salt.

To grill: Heat a gas grill to high. Put the onion skewers on the grates and cook until the slices are well browned on both sides (they will have dark marks on them), about 15 minutes total. Turn one of the grill burners down to low and move the skewered slices to that area. Stack them loosely and leave them there for 10 minutes to finish cooking through. Alternatively, remove them from the grill and wrap them in foil to finish softening.

Corn – To prepare: Shuck the corn, removing all the husk and silk. Lay each ear of corn on a 12-inch square of aluminum foil. Rub each ear with 1 teaspoon butter and season all over with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Tuck a sprig or two of fresh thyme or any other herb next to the corn and wrap the corn tightly in the foil.

To grill: Heat a gas grill to high. Put the foil-wrapped corn on the grate, cover, and cook, turning every 5 to 6 minutes, for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the grill and open the foil loosely. The corn should be blackened in places. If it isn’t, rewrap it and return it to the grill for another 5 minutes. Let cool.

Portabella mushrooms – To prepare: Wipe off any dirt with a damp paper towel. Cut or snap off the stem at the base. With a spoon, scrape out the dark gills on the underside of the cap and discard. Brush both sides of the mushroom cap with plenty of olive oil and season with kosher salt just before grilling.

To grill: Heat a gas grill to high. Put the mushrooms, stem side up, directly on the grate. Grill the mushrooms for as long as they need to get very well browned (a lot of liquid will pool up in the cap), 5 to 8 minutes. When the cap is brown, turn it over and press down to gently push out as much liquid as possible. Grill for another 4 or 5 minutes until they’re much thinner and drier.

Eggplant – To prepare: Use a vegetable peeler to peel lengthwise strips of skin from the eggplant: it will look striped. Alternatively, use a fork to score the skin deeply. (Cooked eggplant skin can be tough; smaller eggplant can have more tender skin, so you can leave it all on if you prefer.) Trim the ends. Cut the eggplant crosswise into rounds about 3/8-inch thick. Brush both sides of the slices with plenty of olive oil and season well with kosher salt just before grilling.

To grill: Heat a gas grill to high, put the eggplant slices on the grate, and cover the grill. Grill, checking occasionally with tongs, until the slices are well browned on both sides, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Move the slices from the heat and stack them to finish cooking (put them on an upper rack, set them over a turned-off burner, or wrap them in foil off the grill). Let sit 15 to 20 minutes. (Eggplant will often still be raw in the middle without this last step of letting the residual heat steam the flesh.)

Bell peppers – To prepare: Leave whole.

To grill: Heat a gas grill to high. Put the peppers on the grate, cover, and cook until the skins are blackened on all sides, turning with tongs as needed, 3 to 4 minutes per side, or a total of 10 to 15 minutes. Wrap the peppers in foil or put them in a paper bag to cool completely. When cool, peel off the blackened skins and remove the stems and seeds, reserving the flesh and juices.

Asparagus – To prepare: Trim off tough ends. Brush liberally with olive oil and season with plenty of salt.

To grill: Heat a gas grill to high. Put the spears on the grate at an angle and grill, rolling over once, until lightly marked and slightly shriveled, about 2 minutes total.

Plum tomatoes – To prepare: Cut each tomato in half and gently seed. If time allows, sprinkle the cut sides with salt and allow the tomatoes to drain on a rack, cut side down, for 30 minutes. Rub lightly with olive oil.

To grill: Heat a gas grill to medium. Grill the tomato halves (cut side down) for 7 to 9 minutes and then carefully turn them over with a spatula and move them to the lowest heat. Cook (skin side down) until much of the moisture is gone, another 8 to 12 minutes. Again using a spatula, press them gently to flatten and to encourage the moisture to release. Let them cook as long as you can (the longer they cook, the better they taste); some will begin to fall apart, but the skin should help keep them together.

Using charcoal

If you grill over charcoal, build a two-zone fire so that you have hot and medium-low areas. Grill your vegetables uncovered over the hot coals to sear both sides (cooking times will dependon the heat of your fire). Move them to the cooler area and cover as directed to finish cooking.

The rules of the grill

1. Start grilling with all burners on high; if you need to move a vegetable to lower heat, just turn one burner down.
2. Oil and salt your vegetables thoroughly. They’ll cook more evenly. A little dripping oil might cause a quick flare-up on the grill; just lower the lid briefly to extinguish it.
3. Learn your grill’s personality. One grill’s “high” is another’s “medium.” Learn where the hot and cool spots are and move the vegetables around to cook evenly. For nice grill marks, give them a quarter turn.
4. Cook peppers, onions, and corn together. They don’t need to be turned frequently so you can keep the lid down longer. Grill zucchini and eggplant together; they need to be checked more frequently—every minute or so.
5. Don’t undercook vegetables. The great flavor of grilled vegetables comes from their juices caramelizing at high heat.