Grilled Veg 6 - Peppers Zucchini

Both of these vegetables are great on the grill -- as so many of us are already aware.

Peppers are firm enough that they stand up well to the heat, evening retaining the texture or bite we like, providing the grilling does not go overboard.

Zucchini are a bit less firm, a very little bit, and hold up just as well.

One of the things that adds so much to the appeal of this basic, delicious pair is their color. With zucchini of course you get the basic, beautiful dark green. The average green pepper matches this, but the glory of this vegetable is in the red, the yellow and the orange. Makes for a beautiful picture on the grill.

Forward! To the Grill, citizens!

Grilled peppers and zucchini

On the cutting board, we halve everything for starters

The zucchini are ready to go as soon as we cut them in half, but for the peppers we need to pare away the stem and remove the seeds in the center. Lay them out like this on the cutting board and you can see how ready they are.

We just need to find something to carry all this to the grill..

A roasting/grilling pan like this is perfect.

Put some EVOO in the bottom of the pan, then put the vegetables in, then dribble a little more EVOO on them. Not too much, a little goes a long way. You can always add more when they are sitting there on your plate.

Simple and colorful, that's the way this all looks on the grill.

For EVOO, click here.

The zucchini will cook faster than the peppers.

So they are ready to turn now.

Test the peppers to see if any are also ready. Poke a fork into them, they should still be firm, but when they show some color on the down side, turn them over.

The whole process does not take very long, and the virtue of this is that you can do this grilling while your hungry family and/or friends are waiting -- just enough time to whet their appetites and not too long to discourage them.

Just about a minute and a half on each side for the zucchini. Maybe two, at most.

Two and a half on each side for the peppers. Maybe three, at most.

Back in the pan. Maybe a little more olive oil on them.

The perfect side dish for almost any meal, particularly those inspired by the Mediterranean.

Another thing these grilled vegetables can be used for is to make a delicious sandwich. Some grilled sourdough bread, mustard on one half, mayo on the other, grilled peppers and zucchini in between. Let's throw in some of the mushrooms we grilled recently as well.

There is a variety of zucchini known as "golden zucchini" which is yellow or orange -- not easy to find, but if you were able to find it, the color on the grill here would be riotous. Like the tomato and like the potato the zucchini originates in the New World, though the Italians took it so much to heart that the alterations they made to it has produced the zucchini we see today in our stores. Like the tomato, zucchini is considered by botanists to be a fruit Nutritionally, zucchini is noted for containing potassium, provitamin A, and a vitamin you have never heard of, vitamin M.

Just as you might have trouble finding the golden zucchini, you might have trouble finding bell peppers that are chocolate, vanilla, or purple in color -- but they exist. More riot. Bell peppers, too, originated in the New World. (What a find that New World was!) New World they may be, but China has taken them to its heart and grows the most of any country, way way the most. Nutritionally, bells contain small percentages of the recommended daily amounts of an amazing number of vitamins and minerals. What's not to like? One of the more interesting facts I encountered here is that the very popular wine varietal, Cabernet sauvignon, sometimes contains a note of bell pepper flavor, especially if the grapes were not fully ripened when harvested. The aroma of the pepper comes from a chemical called pyrazine which is also present in the cabernet grape.

Pictures, pictures, pictures

Series within series, actually. Food & Cooking, for example, then -- within that -- series on vegetables, fruits, seafood, meat, etc. Books, too. Ideas, too. Travel, too. Key virtues:. pictures, clear step-by-step text. Delicious -- whether foods or ideas! All of the series, and all of the items in each series, can be found at this link: Lee White's Department Store

Real Meal. Unlike fancy food mags, where images are hyped and food itself is secondary, all pix shown here are from a real meal, prepared and eaten by me and my friends. No throwing anything away till perfection is achieved. This is the real deal --- a Real Meal.