I’m a meat and potatoes kind of guy. Duh—for one thing, I’m a guy. For another I’m from the Midwest. But I love different textures and flavors.
And now, there are times when I really, really want some vegetables—when I want less meat and more veggies. Part of that is motivated by my tastebuds and part is motivated by my wallet—have you noticed how much beef and pork have gone up in price? So I’ve started to look around for some good vegetable recipes. The other day, I came across a really interesting article in “Salon” titled “How to Master Roasted Vegetables”.
To quote the late George Carlin—“thank you, Captain Obvious.” Yeah, it’s so obvious and simple that it’s almost embarrassing. In short, this article said that the secret to really good roasted vegetables is, quite simply, “surface area and heat”. OK, I can handle that. You need a pan big enough so that the vegetables can fit in one layer with a bit of room and you need enough heat to actually roast the vegetables rather than steaming them. And then you’re going to roast them to get color, carmelization and flavor.
That’s simple enough for a Cheap Bastid. So, last night I was going to do bone-in, skin-on chicken breast on the grill and I wanted some vegetables. Here’s how I did my roasted veggies:
Cheap Bastid’s Grill-Roasted Vegetables
- 1 or 2 summer squash
- 1 red onion
- 1 bell pepper (yellow, red or orange)
- 2 Roma tomatoes
- Canola or olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Directions
This is really pretty simple. (I’m going to give grilling directions, but you can do this in the oven too—just pre-heat the oven to about 425). Get out a pan that’s will fit on the grill and still leave room for the rest of your food. Get out a medium bowl, too. With your chef’s knife rough chop the vegetables. I like bite-sized pieces of about an inch square. I cut the ends off the squash then cut it lengthwise into quarters and then chopped each strip into about 1” lengths.
Put all the veggies in the bowl and add 2 or 3 good glugs of oil (a “glug” is about a tablespoon). Add salt and pepper so that if you pop a piece of veggie into your mouth that you can taste the seasoning. Add any other spices you want—I added some granulated garlic and cumin along with some flakes of cilantro. Mix everything in the bowl really well so that the vegetables are lightly coated with the oil and seasonings.
Get your grill prepped (preferably in a 2-zone fire) and put the pan on the cool zone. This is only going to take about 15 minutes to cook. Listen for the sizzle. When the veggies are sizzling along and you can start to smell them, take the pan off and check it. Now is the time to flip your veggies over and put the pan back on the grill. Listen to the sizzle again and check one last time—if you start to smell a toasted/burned aroma, get the pan off the grill right away).
According to the Salon article, you can add a bit of vinegar, toasted nuts, fresh herbs or parmesan to the finished dish for a bit of extra flavor. My tomatoes developed some good acid flavor during cooking so I just left the dish alone and served it up.
The Cheap Bastid Test: This makes a great side dish, it’s easy and it’s cheap. The vegetables cost a total of about $2 and we had enough for 3. That puts the cost of this dish at about $.67 per person. That’s cheap and good!
That’s the Cheap Bastid Way: Eat Good. Eat Cheap. Be Grateful!
