Going Veggie with the Grill

Summer time is the right time for grilling! And if you are tired of a hot kitchen and want to eat a flavorful meal with little clean up, grilling will satisfy even the most particular palate. Celebrating summer break is the perfect occasion to have guests. Bringing all your friends together in your backyard will complete the perfect summer setting. Grilling has always been a constant in our family. It has been the center of entertaining family and friends for many years. My husband is always seen at the grill with an apron on, and a tong in one hand. This summer instead of doing the traditional BBQ fanfare, we are going to venture off into new territory. We are going tantalize our taste buds with recipes that include the vegetables we grow in our yearly garden.

We usually provide the meat for the party. Hamburgers and hot dogs make perfect choices for large crowds. I usually provide tea and lemonade and let my guests bring other beverages of their choice. However, this year, our menu is going to consist of tomatoes, zucchini, onions, peppers, green beans and egg plant.

Recipes that we enjoy are usually cold salad side dishes. Texas Caviar is very popular with my guests. We wanted to be able to use our vegetable garden for more than cold dishes. We wanted to use my garden as the main event.

This year we are going to try to use a lot of my garden vegetables and make Vegetable Pizzas . Producing a lot of zucchini we hope to be able to try a lot of recipes this summer where we can make use of our bounty. Another recipe that we would like to undertake this summer is Stuffed Zucchini. This recipe can be made 24 hours in advance, so all we will have to do is put it in the oven while the grill is in full force.

With our over abundance of tomatoes every year, we will be looking forward trying Herb-Grilled Tomatoes. My herb garden always has basil, and this recipe will enable us to incorporate more of our garden into the cooking.

Grilling steak and hamburgers in the summer is a regular tradition on the American food plate. We love the traditional steak and potato meal. Having a garden in our backyard gives us the added pleasure of using the grill on a whole new level. Incorporating vegetables from our garden onto the grill helps with our health, and it is economical. Trying new grilling recipes using our garden as the main ingredients has become the new hobby for the summer. We are learning that our garden can provide a healthy and very scrumptious adventure.