Brrrr BQ'd Thanksgiving Vegetables

First, why would anyone BBQ vegetables on Thankgiving? As this year's Thanksgiving was going to be a shared responsibility, I anticipated a crowded kitchen. I figured there might be too many cooks banging into each other and such things seldom work out very well. Stories anyone? Anyways, for added challenge, this year's Thanksgiving preparations were done on the road. I wasn't the only one facing this challenge as Tim and Lisa (my brother and sister-in-law) also came in from out of town and were charged with the more involved preparations of the turkey and dressing, gravy and other more traditional Thanksgiving type fare.

Thanksgiving Day morning everyone participated in a fun 5 km run/walk. This is an enjoyable tradition which my Dad loves to do every year. It's called the Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot and it allows its participants to meet up with friends and family while working up an appetite for the day's big meal! The weather was quite nice for this year's run as we only needed light jackets and many people opted to do without those. The nice weather did not hold though as that afternoon brought in a blustery cold front just in time for the vegetable BBQ! What started out as a BBQ turned into a BRRR-BQ! The food turned out nicely done despite the weather. And, my teeth stopped chattering before the meal's prayer was given so all was good.

For grilling I chose four vegetables, ears of corn, quartered zucchini, a red bell pepper and sliced egg plant. Corn ears are available all year round and are perfect for grilling, easy choice. Eggplants? Well, Dad's garden had just received a hard freeze and that meant a total harvest of all produce, so there were plenty of eggplants too (an earlier eggplant recipe: Dave's Blog: Eggplant Gazpacho). The July 2010 issue of "bon appetit" provided helpful guidance for this recipe. The eggplant recipe is better served at room temperature and that proves advantageous. First you grill the eggplant which can be done up to two hours before serving. This allows you to easily time grilling the corn. You'll need about 15 minutes in order to serve the corn hot along side the other meal preparations.

In order to keep the recipes separate, I have blogged the eggplant lettuce wraps and the grilled corn as separate blog posts. This post will be for the eggplant. Here's the link for the grilled corn: Dave's Blog: Grilled Corn with Honey-Arbol Chile Butter).

Eggplant Lettuce Wraps
Grilling Ingredients:

3 - tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 - red bell pepper, quartered, seeded
1 - 1-1/2 pound eggplant, trimmed, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch thick rounds
4 - medium zucchini, halved lengthwise then crosswise

Sauce Ingredients:

1/2 - cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 - teaspoons ground coriander
1-1/2 - teaspoons arbol chile powder
1 - teaspoon garlic powder
1 - teaspoon paprika
1 - teaspoon cumin
1 - teaspoon onion powder
1/2 - teaspoon salt
1/4 - teaspoon cayenne pepper

Alternativly, purchase harissa powder at a middle-eastern grocery.

Additional Ingredients Wraps:

1 - package, large romaine lettuce leaves (about 20 leaves)
10 - lemon wedges for garnish
3 - tablespoons chopped fresh Italian flat parsley

Grilling Vegetables:

We want to grill the red bell peppers first and then skin them. Place the quartered bell peppers skin side down on a high heat grill. Cook until the skin is blackened all over, do not turn over. Once cooked, place them into a paper bag for 10 minutes letting them "steam" themselves with their residual heat. Remove from bag and peel the skin off.

After the peppers have come off of the grill turn the grill down to medium. Spread 3 tablespoons of oil onto a rimmed baking sheet. Place the eggplant rounds and zucchini onto the prepared baking sheet turning to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill for about 10 minutes cooking through. Turn occasionally, they should be charred in spots and show grill marks. Once cooked, return to the same rimmed baking sheet.

Sauce:

Wisk all of the sauce ingredients together.

Final Preparation:

Line platter with lettuce. Cut eggplant rounds crosswise in half, arrange these over the lettuce along the outside edge of the platter working inwards in over-lapping layers. Leave the center empty. Cut bell pepper and zucchini into 1-inch pieces, mound in center. Drizzle some of the sauce over. Sprinkle with chopped flat Italian parsley. Serve with lemon wedges with additional sauce on the side.

To Eat:

Have the diners use a lettuce leaf to wrap some of the vegetables. Their choice for more sauce or a sprinkle of lemon juice.

Comments:

This is a nice showy salad. It has a great convenience in that it is better served at room termperature.