Meatless On The Grill - vegetarian cookery

Vibrant Life, July, 2000 by Patti Bess

Here are some great ways to enjoy a summer barbecue while still skipping the steak.

Summertime grilling means good times, good friends, and great food. And if you are a vegetarian cook who longs for the taste of grilled food, or thought grills were only for those with a stomach for blackened steaks and burgers, then there's good news. With a small garden or a farmers' market nearby and a grill on the deck, you are ready for a new adventure in cooking. Meatless grilling is limited only by the cook's imagination!

For some people the grill is an appliance they occasionally use when guests come or for a special weekend meal. But for the last couple summers the grill at our house has become the mainstay for summer dinners.

Grills are usually used for only one cooking function--grilling. But they can also be used for slow roasting and baking (which is also called indirect heat). Using the grill for both of these cooking chores makes it a much more versatile appliance--especially for vegetarian grillers.

To create indirect heat for roasting or baking, use a kettle grill that is at least 21-24 inches in diameter. (It doesn't work well on small portable grills.) Start with coals that are cooled to a medium intensity. You can grill foods that need a higher temperature first. With a long-handled spatula, move the coals over to one side of the grill. Place the food to be cooked on the opposite side of the grill. Cover and roast. I often keep a couple bricks nearby to raise the baking dish away from the fire if it still feels too hot.

Gas grills provide an indirect source of heat even more easily. If you have more than two burners on your gas grill, heat the outside burners, place the dish on the middle unheated burner, and close the lid. If you have only two burners, preheat both to medium, turn one off, and place the bread or casserole on that burner; close the lid. Generally dishes that are baked in an oven will take a little less time on the grill.

When using a two-burner gas grill, it is best to check the dish at least half-way through the cooking and turn it to ensure even heating. Some grills tend to have hot spots. The key to success is to know your particular grill.

There is something socially magnetizing about gathering around a fire--even if it's a modern-day gas grill in the backyard. Grilling is fun and simple--not a lot of kitchen science is necessary. Just taste, smell, use your own judgment, and you're on your way. Grilling also fits into the busy lives of today's families as it yields a maximum of great flavor for a minimum of labor.

Is Grilling Safe?

Scientists at the University of California Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have studied both gas and briquette fires and found there is no difference in their health safety.

The primary health problem with grills is in the grilling of meats, or more specifically, the charring of them--no matter what type of fire they are cooked on. When meats are cooked more than 400 [degrees] F potent carcinogens are formed called heterocyclic aromatic amines, or HAAs. They are strong mutagens that cause cancer in lab animals. A second carcinogen is formed from the smoke. Fat that drips and burns on grill coals produces polyaromatic hydrocarbons, which rise up in smoke and stick onto the food. These two carcinogens are not formed at all in vegetable-based foods or vegetable fats as far as scientists know.

The risk, as we now know it, is very limited for vegetarian grillers. However, the carcinogenicity of all foods increases when they are cooked at higher temperatures for longer periods of time. An overcooked pizza tested at the Lawrence Livermore Labs had a high rate of carcinogenicity. A safe choice for all cooking is to stay near the grill and cook foods only as needed.

Tips for Grilling Vegetables

Grilling brings out the smoky sweetness of vegetables and doesn't over-complicate their fresh-picked flavors. Almost any vegetable with a high water content can be successfully grilled. Mesquite is the flavored wood of choice for most vegetable dishes. However, if the food is to remain on the grill for less than five minutes flavored wood smoke does not make much of a difference.

SUMMER SQUASH AND SWEET PEPPERS

Placing larger amounts of vegetables (and potatoes) in foil and cooking on the grill works well. But placing vegetables directly on the grill gives a more smoky flavor. To grill vegetables sear them over high heat, then move them to the grill's edge to finish cooking over low heat. They must be monitored carefully, as the difference between nicely charred but still crunchy and blackened can be a difference of only a few minutes.

Grilling screens or baskets are available at most hardware or barbecue stores. They are an important tool when cooking vegetables, tofu, and other delicate foods that may fall through the grill.

Artichokes, beets, broccoli, sweet potatoes, and in some cases potatoes need to be precooked, or they are blackened before they ever soften enough to eat. These can either be blanched on top of the stove or microwaved for a few minutes. All vegetables that are precooked should be cooked just until a knife can pierce them.