Grilled Early Summer Veggies

The best thing about the grill is that the mess and the heat stay outside the house, am I right?  I will admit that I have pulled out the grill in the dead of winter, brushed off 6-inches of snow, and grilled up a mid-winter storm!  I love grilling veggies and fruit, such unique flavors and ingenious culinary creations come from grilling things that are a little out of the ordinary.

This is a super simple, easy and fast summer recipe, sure to spice up your grilling!  I use a 9 x 11-ish cake pan to grill small items like this.  Using the pan helps keep the little morsels moist and retains a lot of flavor.    The most time consuming step of this recipe is par-boiling the potatoes, but having them par-boiled makes them cook right along side your other veggies with perfect timing.  This is also a great use of all those early veggies in the garden or at the farmer's market.  You can throw whatever you like into the pan...it's as simple as that!

Grilled Early Summer Veggies

Backyard Farmgals

1 pound new red potatoes
large handful baby zucchini
large handful baby patty pan squash
1/2 pound fresh asparagus, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
2 garlic scapes, finely sliced
1 young green garlic, whites and greens finely chopped
2 heads baby bok choy, roughly chopped

Olive oil
Butter
Salt
Pepper
A few basil leaves, julienned
A few sprigs of fresh Italian parsley, stems removed, roughly chopped

*The amounts are approximates, you can add any quantity of vegetables that you want*

In a large pot, place potatoes, cover with water, add salt and bring to a boil.  Boil until just tender enough to pierce with a fork, but not soft.  Drain and slice in half or thirds depending on the size of your potatoes.

In a large 9 x 11 pan, combine potatoes, zucchini, squash, asparagus, garlic scapes, green garlic, and bok choy.  Add a good drizzle of olive oil and a few pats of butter.  Toss to combine.  Season with salt and pepper.

Heat the grill to medium temperature (about 400 degrees).  Throw the pan of veggies on the grill, cover with tin foil and let it cook away.  Stir occasionally to ensure that it is evenly cooked.  After about 10-15 minutes, test the potatoes to make sure they are soft.  Remove from heat.

Season with a little more salt and pepper.  Sprinkle with fresh basil and parsley.  Serve warm.  We served ours with butterflied grilled chicken and grilled pineapple.  It doesn't get any better!!!

Easy, simple and straight out of the garden.  It's so good, you will love it!