Grilled fruits, veggies add taste and color
- Laurie Sidle, OSU Extension Wayne Co.
- August 7, 2023
- 642
I still remember the first time my husband added some asparagus from our garden to the grill. We marveled at the taste, and it gave us a new reason to love the nutrient-rich vegetable.
It remains our favorite way to cook it.
We drizzle the asparagus with a little olive oil, add some seasoning, then place it in a grill basket, preferably with some other vegetables, and we have a quick dish for a summertime meal.
Grilling fruits and vegetables is a great way to add taste and color to your meals and an easy way to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into your meals. At this point in the season, many fruits and vegetables are plentiful, so it’s easy to get your recommended daily amount.
Choose firmer vegetables for grilling like corn, peppers, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, onions, potatoes and summer squash.
Just about any fruit can go on the grill as long as it’s fairly firm and not overripe. Peaches, melons, pineapple, pears, tomatoes, bananas and mangos are just some of the fresh fruits that will hold their shape over the coals.
Using wooden skewers is a great way to grill vegetables and even fruit.
In an article for the USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Education Program, registered dietitian Wendy Beckman suggests grilling strawberries by placing them on a wooden skewer and brushing on a mixture of lemon juice and honey. Grill for about 10-12 minutes, turning once in the middle of the grilling time. Pineapple also can be grilled in the same way, she wrote. You can cut up vegetables and grill them on wooden skewers as well.
Fruit kabobs cooked on the grill make a tasty and healthy dessert. Here is the recipe from SNAP-Ed’s Celebrate Your Plate:
Ingredients
1 cup pineapple chunks
1 peach, cubed
1 banana, sliced
Directions
Place fruit chunks on skewer to make kabobs. Grill or broil on low heat until the fruit is hot and slightly golden. If using wooden skewers, thoroughly soak skewers in water (about 30 minutes) prior to using to prevent burning.
When grilling fruits and vegetables, there are a few things to keep in mind:
—Marinating vegetables is a great way to infuse flavor and moisture into your vegetables before cooking on the grill — but never use leftover marinade that has been used for raw meat, poultry or seafood items.
—While fruits and vegetables may not have to reach a safe minimum internal temperature the same way meat, poultry and seafood do, different fruits and vegetables will have different cooking times. Thicker cut fruits and vegetables and denser vegetables such as potatoes will take longer to cook. Because of the high heat of the grill, this can result in a thoroughly cooked outside but an uncooked inside of the fruit or vegetable. For more even cooking, cut fruits and vegetables into smaller pieces and use a medium to low grill temperature. For thinner sliced fruits and vegetables, turn them often and pay attention to when they may be done so you don’t end up with burnt fruits and veggies.
There are plenty of summer days left. If you haven’t grilled fruits and vegetables, give them a try. You’ll find them tasty and, best of all, nutritious.
Laurie Sidle is an Ohio State University Extension Family and Consumer Sciences program assistant and may be reached at 330-264-8722 or sidle.31@osu.edu.