Don's BBQ vegetables

January 28, 2002

Discussions on spouses' cooking prowess usually end up touching on their talents in the barbecuing department. Most men fancy themselves as a dab hand with the tongs. When my younger son turned 21 recently, some of his mates gave him a set of barbecue implements. Not the wussy little tongs we women like to use in the kitchen, but real industrial strength tools that would be up to the task of turning over rhino steaks, prodding dinosaur burgers, and flipping alligator sausages.

Maybe barbecue tools are replacing the traditional key as boy's transition to manhood? A sort of symbol of maturity. Does this mean a power struggle when it's barbie time and The Spouse and two sons are all in residence. Or are the little secrets of the trade passed on in a family bonding session?

Quite frankly, I haven't a clue. When it comes to a barbecue, I know my place - in the kitchen doing all the preparations. Marinating the meat, making the salads, chilling the beer, whipping up the dressing - all those inconsequential tasks that do little to contribute to the overall success of the meal.

I was toiling away on the computer at the weekend, shaking the branches of the family tree. Once I get engrossed in my genealogy hobby, I tend to lose track of the time. Anyway The Spouse must have been working up an appetite watching cricket on TV because I thought I heard him doing culinary things in the kitchen. Sure enough, he had commandeered my chopping board and knife and was peeling slicing, microwaving and generally making himself useful.

I left him to it. Later when I ventured out to see what was happening he'd prepared a colourful range of vegetables to barbecue, along with some pork pieces and the inevitable sausages.

When we were out collecting the week's vegetables, we'd bought a bag of small beetroot at his prompting. We share a liking for roasted beetroot and so they must have inspired him. Here, then are:

Don's BBQ vegetables

Several baby beetroot, scrubbed
Carrot sticks
Chunks of pumpkin
Courgettes, cut into chunks
Red onions
Red, yellow and green peppers
Whole cloves of garlic
Whole small tomatoes
Oil
Chopped fresh herbs
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Balsamic vinegar

The beetroot, pumpkin and carrots benefit from some prior cooking. They can be given some time in the microwave - the exact amount will depend on the size of the pieces and the power of your microwave. Halve the beetroot after the preliminary cooking.

Peel the red onions but leave the root end intact. Quarter lengthwise and the root part will hold the onion layers together.

Core and deseed the peppers and cut into quarters

You can add other vegetables depending on what you have in your kitchen - corn cobs cut into 2cm rings, chunks of sweet potato.

Place the prepared vegetables in a bowl and sprinkle with oil, salt, pepper and herbs. Turn over to cover well.

We use a wire mesh cage to hold the vegetables, but you can buy a sort of holey wok-style basket for the purpose, or put the vegetables straight onto the solid grill. The mesh cage (sold for holding hamburger patties) is good because you can turn it over as you cook, as long as you keep the vegetable pieces large enough not to slip through the holes. The Spouse lined the bottom with foil.

When the vegetables are cooked, sprinkle them lightly with a little balsamic vinegar. And if it's the middle of winter in your part of the world, the good news is these vegetables can be roasted in a shallow tray in the oven.