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By Root 794 0

bok choy, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and leeks grill best when halved (if small) or cut into wedges (if large). Leaves are quite tender, so grill them very briefly over direct medium-high heat just until grill-marked. The same goes for tender stem-leaves like fiddleheads and Broccolini. Vegetables that are fruiting bodies vary widely in size and shape, requiring different preparations and grilling methods. Most, like zucchini, peppers, and eggplant, do best when cut into slabs, oiled, seasoned, and grilled directly over medium-high heat.

Fruits

Vegetables in this category are particularly tender, so avoid overcooking or they will quickly turn mushy. In fact, most vegetables can be eaten raw, so grilling them is merely a matter of marking the surface and developing some flavor by caramelizing their inherent sugars. While most vegetables can be grilled directly on a hot, oiled grill grate, some like chickpeas are so small that you’ll need a vegetable grill tray, grill wok, or grill skillet. Grill woks and skillets expand the possibilities of your grill because you can “stir-grill” and “grill-sauté” small tender vegetables over the fire without any danger of sacrificing them to the flames.

BEETS

Mixed Grilled Beets with Orange-Hazelnut Gremolata

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

Beets contain about 6 percent sugar. When the beets are boiled, the sugar dissolves in the cooking liquid and you’re left with earthy-tasting tubers. But grill them and the sugars concentrate and caramelize, transforming the beets into a sort of vegetable candy. In this recipe, their sweetness gets a complement of pungent herb relish. Gremolata is a classic Italian garnish for osso buco. Usually it’s made with garlic, pine nuts, lemon zest, and parsley. Ours is more fragrant; we swap tarragon for some of the parsley and hazelnuts for the pine nuts.

INGREDIENTS:

4 multicolored beets, such as red, golden, and Chioggia (about 18 ounces total)

1 tablespoon olive oil

¼ teaspoon salt, preferably smoked

⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper, preferably smoked

Orange-Hazelnut Gremolata:

1 garlic clove, peeled

1 tablespoon packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

1 tablespoon packed fresh tarragon or mint leaves

1 tablespoon grated orange zest

1 tablespoon blanched hazelnuts

¼ teaspoon salt

⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper

Pinch of sugar

DIRECTIONS:

Light a grill for direct medium heat, about 400°F. Scrub the beets well, then slice about ¼ inch thick. Combine the oil, salt, and pepper in a shallow dish. Add the beets and coat well.

For the orange-hazelnut gremolata: Combine the garlic, parsley, mint, orange zest, hazelnuts, salt, pepper, and sugar in a minichopper or a small food processor. Pulse until finely chopped and granular in texture, but not pureed.

Brush the grill grate and coat with oil. Grill the beet slices directly over the heat until tender, about 4 to 5 minutes per side. Arrange on a platter and top with the gremolata.

CARROTS

Grilled Carrot Planks Persillade

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

Like beets, carrots are little sugar factories packing in as much as 5 percent of their weight in sucrose. They’re also the best vegetable source of beta-carotene, a potent antioxidant that gives carrots their orange hue. Because beta-carotene is concentrated right under the skin of carrots, it’s helpful not to peel them. A good scrub is sufficient to remove surface dirt. Purple carrots, which are also great grilled, contain anthocyanin pigments, another antioxidant, rather than carotene. The effect of the pigments and sugar in carrots increases as they grill, making grilled carrots higher in many nutrients than raw ones. We dress up these colorful roots with chopped parsley and garlic, known in France as persillade.

INGREDIENTS:

3 large carrots, ends trimmed

1 tablespoon olive oil

¼ teaspoon coarse salt

⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper

Pinch of nutmeg

¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

2 tablespoons minced garlic

DIRECTIONS:

Cut the carrots lengthwise into planks about ⅜ inch thick, and then toss with the oil, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.