Saturday Night Dinner

Ohhh man have we been giving the grill a workout lately. I've been avoiding the oven because not only has it been stiflingly hot, but it's just so humid. The more outdoor cooking I can do in my opinion, the better. Seriously, I might start cooking on an open fire in my backyard. Totally campfire style.



A couple of weeks ago, we had this for dinner:


I'm still drooling.


These vegetables, hands down are my absolute favorite way to consume veggies. Oh grilled marinated veggies, where have you been all summer? I can't believe it took me until August (how is August over already???) to cook these. The recipe is really versatile, so play with it. Have fun. That's what cooking is all about anyway! At least in my opinion.

Grilled Marinated Vegetables
I usually make these with red onions, zucchini, cherry tomatoes and mushrooms. But play around with what you have on hand. I've never made this recipe in any combination that didn't work perfectly.
1 red onion, cut into eighths
1 large zucchini, cut into chunks
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 pound white button mushrooms
1-2 cups balsamic vinaigrette dressing

Add all cut up veggies to a 1 gallon plastic ziploc bag. Pour in dressing and toss the vegetables around to cover. Seal and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. I usually just buy bottled balsamic dressing for this, but when I get really ambitious I'll make my own. Just you your favorite balsamic dressing and these will be delicious.

After marinating the vegetables, recruit your friends and family and start skewering. I like to add them so that none of the same things are next to each other. It looks pretty that way and I like to tell myself that this way the flavors will all meld together. But I don't really know what I'm taking about, so skewer to your hearts content.

Grill at medium heat until veggies are cooked, but still firm. Using a papper town, grab the end of the skewer and place the pointy end into a bowl. Using a fork, slide the veggies into the bowl. Or, for a cool presentation, plunk the skewers and all onto the table and let everyone grab one. Just be careful, the skewers will be hot!

Enjoy!