Grilled root vegetables are easy, fast and delicious. Sara decided to try beets and carrots.
As summer begins to slip away, it leaves behind sun kissed curls, tanned and weathered hands, freckled noses and a bounty of vegetables. Every year, I’m reminded that for me, it’s more about the journey than the arrival. All summer, the anticipation of picking and eating my own vegetables inspires me to lug pails of water and weed until I struggle to stand up. When it’s actually time to pick, I’m always a bit sad because soon the garden will be put to bed for the winter – sigh…the circle of life.
When you have the opportunity to eat a vegetable that’s been pulled from the ground less than five minutes prior, I’d suggest eating it raw. The flavour is mind blowing and the texture is crunchy and wet. A perfect combination for any and all salad possibilities. If you’d rather cook, then instead of steaming or boiling the vegetables try grilling them on the barbecue, wrapped in tin foil with a little extra virgin olive oil, maybe some garlic, sea salt, freshly ground pepper, you could use a splash of white wine or lemon juice, some fresh herbs… You get the picture. Play around with different combinations until you find your favorite. Here I used beets, extra virgin olive oil, a cheap balsamic vinegar, sea salt flakes and freshly ground pepper. For the carrots, I used extra virgin olive oil, lemon thyme, sea salt flakes and freshly ground pepper. Both vegetables were wrapped in tin foil in separate packets and placed on the barbecue using an indirect cooking method for thirty minutes. The carrots were really soft whereas the beets were quite firm. I loved the contrast! I served the beets with a dollop of prepared horseradish. I just drooled on my keyboard
To use the indirect heat cooking method, turn your barbecue on high and close the lid. Once the barbecue reaches 500*F, turn one burner off. Place vegetables packets over the unlit burner and close the lid. The barbecue’s temperature will drop slightly but not to worry. Check your veggies, after 30 minutes, by carefully prying open one end of the tin foil and testing with a sharp knife. If the knife point slides through easily, the vegetables are cooked. Be careful – remember those veggies are building up a lot of steam inside those packages!
I’m not going to write out a recipe today. This is more a style of cooking than an actual recipe that you need to follow. If you’re puzzled as to what herb to try with a certain vegetable, drop me a note. I love offering suggestions! It plays to my control issues…
Thanks for reading.
photos, of me, lovingly taken by Sara Hooton
