Grill Tender Vegetables Right on Your Chimney

If you are cooking on charcoal, you will need a charcoal chimney . It’s not that you can’t heat the coals without it, but using it really speeds up the process and ensures that your coals burn consistently every time. Even with a chimney, it takes about half an hour for them to get hot and ready to grill. Instead of wasting this time, use it to cook vegetables.

When preparing charcoal, you want it to hang around in the chimney until it stops smoking and the top corners of the charcoal are white and ashy (about two-thirds of the charcoal should be ashed). But even before you reach the ideal grill temperature, these coals are hot , and you can use that heat to quickly brown tender, tender vegetables like asparagus, broccoli, thinly sliced ​​pumpkins, peppers, or any other plant parts that copes well with the explosion of super hot heat. Tough vegetables like potatoes and carrots are no good, but cucumbers (or pickles )? They are perfect.

Start the charcoal chimney in the usual way: fill it with charcoal and place it over a lit lighter cube . Let the chimney do its thing. As soon as it stops smoking and you see a glowing red light under the top layer of coals (and the top layer is just starting to ash), place a grate over the chimney and prepare the vegetables. (Make it up to this point, and you may notice a bad taste in the food.) If you notice that the grate is deforming, don’t panic. You can bend it into place by pressing on it while it’s still hot. Just remember to use heat resistant gloves.

I quickly sautéed the asparagus in olive oil and sprinkled with enough salt, then placed on a wire rack and let cook for about a minute, turning once until they were charred all over. slightly bent when I picked them up with tongs. It was fast. It was delicious. The stems were sweet and smoky, but still fresh in taste. The rapid flow of heat roasted them just enough to soften the dampness without destroying their greener qualities.

Once your vegetables are cooked, your charcoal should be completely ready to go. Pour it onto the charcoal grate and proceed with your original grilling plan, which should remain the same except for the fact that you now have delicious grilled vegetables to snack on.