It may seem an odd way to cook vegetables, but just about anything raw and pulled out of the earth, picked off a bush, or plucked from a vine tastes better when grilled. One reason is that a grill cooks much hotter than a stovetop--compare a 550-degree grill to a 212-degree pot of boiling water. Vegetables are seared, charring the outside (that's the best part) and allowing the inside to steam itself.
KIDS' COOKING SKILLS: This is a good way to introduce kids to the importance of washing fruits and vegetables. Older kids can help out with the peeling. Or you can give them the fun, messy job of mixing the cut veggies with the olive oil, salt, and pepper.
For almost all vegetables, the cooking method is essentially the same:
• Rinse and dry the vegetables. Oil won't stick to wet vegetables.
•Trim the vegetable down to size. Peel and slice carrots along their length. Cut zucchini into 1/2-inch wide slices.
•Next, toss them with a little olive oil and season them with salt and fresh-ground pepper to taste.
•Splash on just enough olive oil to coat your veggies, maybe two tablespoons per batch.
•Finally, lay them out on a hot grill until nicely marked and just-cooked. Remember, don't overcook--they will simmer in their own heat for a few minutes after you take them off.
• For some vegetables, you need to add an extra step. Potatoes, for instance, should be boiled in salted water for 10 to 20 minutes. Depending on the size of the spud slice them first or grill them whole.
•Eggplants soak up oil like a sponge, so put the oil and salt and pepper into the bowl, then quickly toss the eggplant in small batches.
TIP FROM THE CHEF: For an elegant look, give your knife skills a spin and slice zucchini, summer squash and eggplant along the length of the vegetable. The long sections, with their dramatic blackened grill marks, will look straight out of a cooking magazine.
