Macon Magazine

100 l MACON MAGAZINE JUNE/JULY 2013 The secret of many busy cooks – cook once and eat twice – is made even easier if you use your backyard grill instead of the kitchen stove. And there's no better time to do that – adding vegetables and fruits to the grill – than when summer's bounty provides plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. Leftover grilled chicken and steak have long been repur- posed for a component of a sec- ond meal, but you can expand that basic meal planning with fresh produce. And those extra portions you cook one night, which is where the "eat twice" comes from, taste even better when grilled and can be disguised easier on another night in an entirely dif- ferent recipe. The most versatile of double-preparation ingredients are vegetables. It takes only a few minutes more to peel and slice four onions instead of two and to break a whole head of cauliflower or broccoli into florets instead of just enough for one meal. Nothing is lost in holding over the extras for later in the week. And they won't seem like leftovers at all when a mix of roasted vegetables served along side a steak or chicken one night are resurrected the next, chopped and added to pasta for a primavera dish, or mixed with orzo and feta for a cold salad, or folded into a quick and nutritious quesadilla with black beans and cheese. The extra preparation re- quired for grilling foods for two nights instead of one is minimal. No pots or pans needed for sautéing, simmering or steaming when you heat up the grill rather than the kitchen. A light coating of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper makes almost any vegetable ready for the fire, whether gas or charcoal (fresh peas and beans being the exception). And unlike the questions about the safety of charred meats, that crosshatched goodness you aim for over a fire does not create any carcinogens in vegetables. So throw on the usual steak, marinate the chicken, sear the salmon and grill a few ears of corn for a traditional barbe- cue meal. But don't limit your choices. Add a variety of other produce to your grilling reper- toire. With minimal preparation time, tonight's dinner menu can give you a head's up on a week's worth of other meals. Here are a few ideas to get you started, everything from appetizer to dessert. *Create a Grilled Salsa Verde for an appetizer one night and use it as a major component for a what's-in-the-pantry Mexican soup later in the week. *Slice and quick grill a mix of fresh vegetables as the basis for a variety of dishes, from pizza to primavera. *Dessert can be a freshly made pound cake on baking day, and leftovers can be grilled and served up with grilled or fresh fruit, for as long as the cake lasts in the freezer. Skip the Steak Photography by michael williams Grilled Vegetables A grill basket, salt, pep- per, a little oil and a hot fire are all you need to heighten the flavor of almost any vegetable: broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, onions, sweet potatoes, asparagus. Cut vegetables into uniform pieces and don't crowd in the basket. (If you do, they will steam instead of getting the nice grill marks.) Grill more than you think you will eat (they get more flavorful but shrink as the water content evaporates) as a side dish for your main dish of steak, salmon or pork tenderloin. Leftovers are versatile in a variety of next-day meals. THERE'S A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING FROM FRUITS AND VEGETABLES TO CAKE ON YOUR OUTDOOR GRILL by barbara stinson

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