Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Recipes for a Cheapskate Gardener - Barbecued Veggies



One of the best things about gardening is being able to create your own food from scratch...I mean REALLY from scratch...having everything in your dish come from your own yard.

You don't even have to go to the supermarket...



Among other crops this year, we grew corn, summer squash, onions, tomatoes, and carrots. This is how I use them in a summer barbecue.

First, I pick the squash, onions, carrots and corn and wash them thoroughly (except the corn).


Next, it's on to the tomatoes. Same thing...wash them well and set aside for later.


Chop up the squash, carrots and onions. Chop the onions very fine.  Dice the tomatoes and set aside separately.

Get a large ziploc bag. Put the carrots, squash, and onion in it. Also drop in around 3 tablespoons of olive oil, a teaspoon each of kosher salt, pepper, and chile powder. Seal the bag and shake it vigorously.

Now, get a sheet of foil paper and dump the contents of your ziploc bag on it. Loosely gather up the foil paper so that everything is wrapped up. Loose is the key word here, leave some gaps for the heat and smoke to permeate.

Start your barbecue, coals on one side (or if gas, leave at least one side unlit). Put the veggies in foil on the indirect heat side. Leave with lid covered for at least 30 minutes...you can use this time to cook the meat on the barbecue too.

About 15 minutes in, I throw the corn with the husks still on on the indirect side of the grill. These should be done at the end of the original 30 minutes too...they don't take as long to cook as the carrots do.

Serve as is on a plate and sprinkle some of the diced tomatoes and parmesan cheese on the veggies. The picture at the top shows what the veggies and corn looks like with my fabulous grilled duck breast. 

Aside from the meat, this meal probably cost me less than a dime. It is also fresher and tastier than anything you can get at a supermarket or a farmers market.  Can't you just imagine how good it tastes?

-Darryl
Copyright 2012 - Darryl Musick
All rights reserved

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