Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Featured Food: grilled veggies!

Towards the end of my last training cycle, I started getting pretty bored with my usual eats. I am a full-on creature of habit when it comes to food and I can go weeks or months on pretty much the same meals and snacks, but there comes a time when my diet needs an overhaul!

By the time race day arrived, I did not even want to look at steel cut oat or brussels sprouts.


After a post-marathon week(+) of celebratory indulgences, I was excited to get back on track with a healthy diet. I also knew that it was time to mix things up and try some new things in place of my standard fare.

Now that it's BBQ (hehe) season, I treated myself to a new toy: a grill basket! I absolutely love grilled vegetables and I have no idea why I have not owned one previously.



It's super quick &  easy to chop up a ton of veggies in big chunks, toss with some olive oil and salt & pepper and throw them into the basket. I place it on the grill on low for about 20 minutes, shaking a few times and turning the entire basket over once or twice.


veggie goodness!


And voila, a big pile of delicious grilled vegetables - the perfect addition to any meal! I'm loving these and it's been a delicious and easy way to mix things up.


The best part is that they taste even better (in my opinion) cold! I've been bringing leftovers on a bed of spinach for lunch, with a splash of vinaigrette and some chickpeas for added protein. De-lish!



I'm planning to make this Grilled Vegetable Quinoa Salad tomorrow! (thanks Kelly for the recommendation!)

Do you eat grilled veggies? Any ideas for me?

35 comments:

Happy Feet 26.2 said...

I cook my on a large trey in the oven. I cook a large portion to make it through the wk. I also recently discovered brussel sprouts and trying to experiment with other veggies.

I also recently discovered green monsters. A great way to get a lot of veggies down easily. I like to EAT most of my calories, but veggies, I just want to get them in, anyway possible.

J said...

yes please grilled veggies! Love them! I love grilled corn and also I love putting pineapple with the peppers, onions and zucchini! Maybe try some fruit and veggies - not sure how it would work with the basket! That thing looks pretty awesome!

Laura said...

Grilled veggies + orzo pasta + feta cheese (or goat cheese) + fresh basil.....
yum.....

Running Ricig said...

that basket is awesome! I want one.

I usually mix my grilled veggies with pb+soy sauce+garlic. It's amazing!

Emily said...

bBQ! you are so cute and awesome. i love me some grilled veggies. I COAT them in parmesan because clearly cheese makes everything better.

Lor said...

I made that quinoa salad last week, but just left out the chipotles because my husband dislikes them and they're too spicy for Sof. It was really really good, and even he agreed that it would've been good with the chipotles!

misszippy said...

Grilled veggies are the best...I like the idea of tossing them in some quinoa.

Robin said...

Looks yummy and a great idea.

Mark said...

Awesome!! I want to get me one of those baskets!!!

RunToTheFinish said...

i soooo miss our grill, one huge downside to the condo. I used to love doing this!

Anonymous said...

yuuuum!!!

Joanna said...

YUM YUM YUM! I *think* we have a grill basket. I'm going to check then recommend this to my hubby, since he does all our grilling. Good call!

Teamarcia said...

And to think I've been doing a half-assed job trying to grill veggies on foil! Going to get me a basket pronto! I think it'll make a great father's day gift. ;)

Q said...

Oh YUM!! Zucchini and eggplant are both good for grilling.

Unknown said...

I need one of those. It looks delicious!

Denise said...

sick of brussel sprouts? never!!!

love grilled veggies but never made them in one of those basket thingys. might have to pick one up.

Jill said...

I've grilled corn on the cob a few times, that's pretty fun! We also grill sweet potatoes, which are so yummy on the grill! Your dish looks awesome!

Shellyrm ~ just a country runner said...

I love putting my cold leftover veggies on my salad! Yummy! But I need to skip foodie posts for a while. I am attempting a fast and it's harder than usual. After seeing your yumminess, I might crack!

RoadBunner said...

We grilled pineapple and avacado last night with some shrimp. Delicious!

Heidi said...

Oh that looks SO good! They'd probably be great with some balsamic reduction. Oh and broccoli & carrots. Hmmm, may have to get myself one of these baskets ... and get the BBQ operational.

Unknown said...

Um, YUM! I LOVE this. Thanks for sharing (and making me hungry)! I'm definitely going to get one.

Winks & Smiles,
Wifey

Marci said...

Thanks for the recipe idea Marlene!! Moe walked through the door as I read your post with Salmon, not knowing what do with it. I cut up a ton of veggies (onions, carrots, red potatoes, yellow and green peppers) and grilled it. With a glass of Barefoot Pinot Grigio, it was the perfect dinner!!

Char said...

Yum! That looks amazing. The colours are all so enticing. That's definitely something I'm going to have to look into.

ajh said...

Love the idea of that grill basket. Didn't know there was such a thing.

Anonymous said...

Yay for bBQ season!! :) Your grill basket looks amazing, I need to get one and stat! Love your idea of throwing the veggies cold on salad the next day. Mmm...gonna have to give that a try!

Nicole said...

ahhhh i love it! i want to do this!! this meat eater would put some chicken in there too! :)

Richelle said...

Yummy! My fiance and I are so getting a grill once we get our own place.

I don't think I'll ever think of BBQ the same way again. ;-)

No Longer Using said...

i loooooooooooooove grilled veggies. but we don't have a big grill, so i found this fabulous pre-grilled frozen mix - 2 options- at Hannafords and I LIIIIVE on it :)

your next mission? grill fruit!!! :) i like grilled pineapple mmmm. i've also seen other people grill other fruits, too. maybe peaches? bananas...

Unknown said...

Yum! We throw some herbs from our garden into the veggie mix when grilling. Rosemary, basil and thyme are good ones. They also fill the air with herby-ness. Love it!!
I'm trying to recover from post marathon treats. It's not that easy, I had a few bad habits!!

Julie D. said...

Oh yum! I'm going to have to get me one of those baskets!!

Anonymous said...

YUM! Now I wish I had a grill so I could buy a veggie basket for it :) That'd be good with some grilled salmon too...ha, well that list could go on for a while. Great buy!

Lindsay said...

Umm. I came up with that bBQ term thankyouverymuch.

Meg said...

YUM grilled veggies. But your bBQ comment takes the cake. You're a nerd. LOL

N.D. said...

these look so easy! where do I get one of these things?

RunningLaur said...

I love seeing pro-veggie posts like these - it encourages me to eat more veg.

When I was camping this last week, I got corn and campfire roasted it. It's the closest I have to a grill! I do a lot of oven roasting though. LOVE.