grilling

Simply Summer {Grilled Vegetables}

by Lisa on July 28, 2011

I’m almost embarrassed to post this recipe as a “recipe,” because it is so simple and adaptable. We make this all summer, every summer—it’s not very pretty to look at, but it is delicious!

Despite the heat, we ventured to the farmer’s market pretty early on Saturday morning.  Even if we don’t need a lot of produce {but let’s face it, that doesn’t happen} we like to go and walk around.  I have a feeling this will be a fun family activity once our baby girl joins us!  While there, we snagged some delicious summer produce and a buffalo steak for dinner.

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Ingredients

  • 1 zucchini, chopped
  • 1 summer squash, chopped
  • 1 eggplant, sweat, rinsed and chopped
  • 1 red onion, chopped
  • 1 package of mushrooms, rinsed and quartered
  • 1/2-3/4 cup of olive oil
  • garlic
  • assortment of herbs, rinsed and minced {whatever is on hand, we used tarragon, sage, rosemary, oregano and thyme}
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 2 lemons, juiced

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Method

Mince all of the herbs and garlic.  Use whatever herbs you want—Jeromy just went out back and picked these out of our garden.

Prepare all of the vegetables, then combine with the herbs, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper in a bowl.  Stir well to coat all of the vegetables.

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Using a grill pan {or tinfoil if you don’t have a grill pan} cook the vegetables on the grill for 3-4 minutes.  Then stir them up and continue cooking for another 3-4 minutes.  They should be cooked through and slightly browned when removed from the grill.  Only a grill or high-end range can put out the BTUs necessary to cook this much vegetable in 6-8 minutes. A regular range is going to need longer.  Also, cooking on a grill gives the vegetables a nice smoky flavor that can be imitated with liquid smoke if this is cooked indoors.

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Before serving, mix in the lemon juice.

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This is a great side dish for a crowd and you can adapt it to suit what you like.  Don’t care for eggplant? Sub with tomatoes!  Don’t care for onions? How about peppers instead? Make this recipe your own—have fun with it!

We always end up with more grilled vegetables than we can eat in one sitting, but luckily, they make great leftovers.  I love eating them for lunch over arugula with some feta cheese.

Enjoy!

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Backyard BBQ {Korean Steak Tips}

by Lisa on May 11, 2011

Backyard BBQs–one of the best things about summer! To me, there is literally nothing better than throwing some food on the grill, sipping a cold drink and hanging out with my husband until the sun goes down, forcing us inside {but only until my dad comes back and installs an electrical outlet on our patio!}

After living in our new house for over a week, tonight seemed like it was time to break in the patio and grill.  I adapted this recipe from one I’ve used many time that I found in Food & Wine magazine.  It is absolutely delicious and will leave you wanting more!

Ingredients:

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  • Approximately 1 pound of steak tips
  • 1 red onion, cut into one inch chunks
  • 1 green bell pepper, cut into one inch chunks
  • 1 red bell pepper, cut into one inch chunks
  • 8-10 mushrooms
  • Korean Sizzling Beef marinade {see below}

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For the marinade:

  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 tablespoons white wine {dry is best, but I used what I had on hand since we’re not drinking right now}
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic {or 2 large garlic cloves, minced}
  • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seed oil
  • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes {I used slightly less as the flakes I have are REALLY hot}

Method:

Combine all of the ingredients for the marinade in a Ziploc bag.

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Add the meat.

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Seal the bag with little air in it and mix so the meat gets coated well with the marinade.

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Stick the bag o’ meat in the fridge for 4 hours or up to overnight.

Shortly before dinner, prepare your grill {or in my case, ask your husband to do it :-) }

Take the meat out of the refrigerator and let it rest at room temperature.  Meanwhile, prepare the veggies to be skewered.

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Then, start skewering!  There’s really no rhyme or reason to it, I just try to put some aromatic vegetables near the meat {like the red onion}.

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Next, to the grill.  Grill to your desired level of doneness, we left ours on, turning the skewers periodically, for about 15 minutes.  Normally we like meat cooked around medium rare, but since I’m pregnant, I’ve been eating meat cooked medium to medium well.

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Once the skewers are off the grill, let them rest for about 5 minutes, then serve.

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What did we eat on the side? Kale, of course! And rice pilaf.

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This is more than enough to feed two people, we had dinner and leftovers.  This combination of flavors is one of my favorites—I use this marinade time and time again.

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When it comes to food, we are getting to my favorite time of the year filled with farmer’s markets, summer produce and light but delicious meals.  And of course, the nice weather means sharing meals outdoors with family and friends. 

What’s your favorite part of summer eating? 

Recipe adapted from Food & Wine magazine.

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