The Easy Mediterranean-Inspired Vegetables I’ve Been Making for Years

I often joke that there’s no job I haven’t done. That’s mostly because I have a hard time saying no. I like seeing the world outside of my box, and if that means also learning some new skills, then I’m all in. Saying “yes” is how I learned to use the grill instead of fearing it, and how I learned to make one of the simplest, most delicious vegetable dishes: balsamic grilled vegetables.

Shortly after graduating from culinary school, I took a job working for a catering company. We were hired to work a variety of parties and events, but our outdoor bookings were my favorite. There was something fun about working with my feet in the grass (in shoes, of course) and the fresh air surrounding me.

One of our most requested dishes was our grilled vegetable plate. I’d prepped it on several occasions but had never cooked it until the time our prep chef didn’t show up for work—which left me to man the grill. I pretended like I knew what I was doing until I eventually got the hang of it and even fell in love.

Grilling, it turned out, was pretty fun. I grilled what felt like hundreds of pounds of vegetables that day and learned a few things along the way. Now, I’m excited to share the recipe (and some tips) with you!

Tips for Making Balsamic Grilled Vegetables

These are all of the tips and tricks that will ensure you get the most delicious grilled vegetables:

1. Know your grill. Everyone’s grill is different. Each one has spots that are cool and, conversely, excessively hot. Identify those before adding your vegetables so that you can cook them to perfection.
2. Let the grill preheat. There’s nothing sadder than adding food to your grill and not hearing a “sizzle” to accompany it. Give your grill at least 15 minutes to heat up before adding your vegetables. 
3. Vegetables cook fast. My cooking time below is a range and recommendation. As I mentioned, each grill is different, so if you notice your vegetables are taking faster/longer to cook, you’ll need to adjust your time accordingly.
4. Shake off excess marinade. Extra marinade literally adds fuel to the fire, so to prevent flare-ups, shake off any excess marinade from the vegetables before adding them to your grill.
5. Use grilling tongs. Those long metal tongs made for grilling will protect your arms and hands while flipping veggies.
6. Save the marinade. Since you’re not using the marinade to season raw meat, you can save and use it for dressing the finished dish!

More Easy Grilling

Cook Mode
(Keep screen awake)