BBQ Roasted Vegetables

Name: BBQ Roasted Vegetables
Ingredients: ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil; 1 red or yellow pepper (capsicum); 1 small eggplant (aubergine); Salt; 1 red onion; 2 medium zucchini (courgettes); 1 punnet of cherry tomatoes; 2 cloves garlic; 3 x 3 cm sprigs rosemary; ½ lemon; 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar (optional); freshly ground black pepper; 1 bunch of asparagus; 2 lemons

Ingredients

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 red or yellow pepper (capsicum)
1 small eggplant (aubergine)
Salt
1 red onion
2 medium zucchini (courgettes)
1 punnet of cherry tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
3 x 3 cm sprigs rosemary
½ lemon
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar (optional)
freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch of asparagus
2 lemons

The most delicious grilled veggies are marinated in a delicious lemony herb garlic sauce after being charred on the grill or roasting in the oven. In contrast to meat, veggies absorb flavour much more readily when they are hot, hence it is preferable to marinade them AFTER cooking. It has a handmade antipasto flavour!

Method

Cut the eggplant into thickish slices.
Sprinkle lightly with salt and place on a plate. Cover with a tea towel and put something heavy on top of the tea towel (such as some cans of tomatoes). After 30 minutes, rinse the eggplant quickly and pat very dry with another tea towel. TIP You don’t need to do this if eggplant is picked straight from the bush.
Brush both sides of the slices with some more of the olive oil and leave until needed.
Peel the onion and cut into 6 wedges. HELP Get an adult to bring a saucepan of lightly salted water to boil and drop the onion into the saucepan and boil for 5 minutes and drain in a colander.
Dry onion pieces with the tea towel used to dry the eggplant. Brush the onion with olive oil. Add to the tray with the eggplant.
Cut the zucchini into thick slices. Brush with oil and add to the plate with other vegetables.
Peel and finely chop the garlic. Place in the small bowl with the remainder of the olive oil.
Heat the barbecue grill to hot.
Brush the peppers all over with some of the olive oil and grill until charred on all sides.
Place the blackened pepper in a plastic bag or brown paper bag (to soften the skin for easy removal) and leave to cool. When the pepper is cool, peel off the blackened skin, remove the seeds (and place in the compost bucket), then tear the flesh into big pieces. Brush with some olive oil and put on the serving tray.
Place a frying pan on the BBQ plate or side burner with some oil and cook the whole cherry tomatoes just until the skins start to burst, then put on the serving tray.
Place all vegetables on the barbecue grill. The eggplant and onions will take the longest. Oil the asparagus spears and place them on the grill. They will take less than 5 minutes. Turn them once.
The eggplant and onions will take longest. As the vegetables are ready, remove them either to the coolest part of the barbecue or to a serving platter.
Add the juice of half a lemon to the remainder of the oil, mix to blend. Brush all the grilled vegetables with this dressing. Season with salt and pepper and garnish the platter with lemon wedges. TIP You can cook other seasonal vegetables in the same way such as carrots, pumpkin, sweet potato and potato.