Sophie's Foodie

It's that time of the year to start thinking about a nice steamy bowl of soup, and I think you are going to find out that a grilled vegetable soup recipe is at the top-of-the charts. Well, just maybe because most of it is grilled outdoors on the BBQ.
Grilling vegetables gives the soup a unique taste that's hard to duplicate indoors. It's ironic, but things kind of taste better when done outdoors.
Ok, this soup recipe involves quite a few steps. If you are in a hurry, this may not be the recipe for you.
If you want to present an exciting vegetable soup to family and friends, this may be just the right soup. Give it a try!
I have a wire mesh pan for grilling cut up vegetables so they don't fall through the grill. If you don't possess a mesh pan�.no sweat.
You will have to cut the veggies up in such a way that they do not fall through the grill. Rub a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil on them, and grill until you get a nice grill mark on both sides. Then cut them up into small bite-size chucks.
And, the idea is to have the vegetables as "crunchy" as possible. So, don't over grill them.
Here are some sample ingredients for you to try: 3 stalks of celery, 1 small zucchini, 3 large carrots, 1 small onion, 1 Anaheim Pepper, 5 red potatoes, 1 Red Bell Pepper, 4 lg. gloves of garlic, 1 Beef Kielbasa sausage, Five 14 oz cans of Chicken Broth, One 14 oz can of Beef Broth, 8 drops of Tabasco, 1/2 teaspoon of Chipotle Dried Pepper (More for real boys and girls), Extra Virgin Olive Oil. (You can switch these ingredients around any way you want.)
Set the grill to a medium temperature. On one side of the grill the vegetables and the Kielbasa. On the other side have your stock pot.

Cook the Kielbasa until you have nice grill marks on both sides. Do not puncture the sausage. Cook about five minutes on each side.
The potatoes were nuked for five minutes. Don't over microwave. Slice them into about half inch to three quarter size slices.Roast the Anaheim and Red Pepper until you have grill marks on both sides. The peppers will start to deflate when done. I like caramelized garlic and onions. This adds yet another dimension to your soup. Add a lot of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and a tad bit of butter to your stock pot. Coarsely chop up the onion and mince the garlic. You want enough oil and butter in the pot so that the garlic and onion float. Make sure you cook the onion and garlic by themselves, first Let part of the onion and garlic turn a nice, almost dark brown. You will get a very nice aroma when it's caramelized.
Rub a little EVOO on the potatoes and put them on the grill. When you get nice grill marks on each side, you know you are getting there.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, on the other side of the grill you can be adding the chicken and beef stock to the pot.Cut up the grilled baked potatoes, Kielbasa into bite size chunks and add them. Finely chop the Anaheim Pepper and add also. It will dissolve into the stock.Add the cutup grilled vegetables. No need to simmer the soup. It's done. I like to let it sit in the fridge over night. This allows all the flavors to mingle.This can be a recipe for a super diet type of soup. You can make it with or without meat and you can substitute water for the broth. You can switch the vegetables around, or substitute barley, rice or noodles for the potatoes. Just remember it's better grilled!
Don't forget to check out Lil Mo's Barbecue Shoppe. Believe me Mo knows BBQ!

Labels: Grilled Baked Potatoes, Grilled Vegetable Soup Recipe, Grilled Vegetables

I have many vegan friends. And, I don't like to disappoint them. Grilled vegetables are at the top of the chart for them, and for my family. Cooking vegetables outdoors brings in a taste that cannot be duplicated, and a simple recipe is hard to beat.
Many BBQ sites feature only ways to barbecue meat. Hey, that's fine. But, how about considering the total meal experience. Grilling vegetables, fruits and desserts is part of that experience.
I have mentioned Chef George Hirsch in other blog posts. He was grilling vegetables, and was involved in the total meal experience, long before it was fashionable on the food channels, and before many of them hit puberty.
He grilled on a Charbroil Gas BBQ, with a modified cast iron grill, every Saturday on Public TV. Pretty sure it was the late eighties or early nineties. Now days, he publishes a free newsletter that I subscribe to and you should look into it, too.
Anyway for this post, I grilled a combination of fresh Roma tomatoes, zucchini, red and yellow peppers, asparagus and mushrooms. Get a whole bunch of each. The basic recipe is out of an old Family Circle magazine, and I will admit I took a whole lot of liberties with the recipe.
Number one: they wanted you to make a Marinara-based dipping sauce, adding onion, vinegar, Italian Seasoning and sweet roasted red peppers. I didn't bother with it.
I like the taste of grilled veggies just the way they come off the grill. You don't need to plunk anything on top of them, or dip them into anything. But, your tastes may be different than mine.
Get yourself a great big bowl...."Martha Stewart-recommended size". Cut up the peppers and zucchini length-wise. Halve or quarter up the tomatoes. Slice up the mushrooms. Remove stems from the asparagus.
Pour on, and toss all the veggies in Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I also drizzled on a Balsamic Vinegar. It's a super marinade and adds an awesome taste. Marinate things for about an hour or so.
I brought the gas grill up to about 400 degrees. I grilled the asparagus and zucchini on one side of the grill and put the remaining vegetables into a grill-top chef's pan. This way I don't lose any veggies through the grill.
The asparagus and zucchini should take only about five, six minutes per side. Put everything else in the basket except the tomatoes. Put them in at the last minute or they will turn to mush.

Toss the pan of veggies until done. It's an eyeball thing.
The first night we ate the grilled vegetables by themselves. The second time we put them into a wrap. Both experiences were, well, just outstanding. My wife told me that the wrap thing was a notch up, though. Are you catching on?
And, hey, you can always add something to the mixed veggies for the next meal. For the meat eaters, you could add thinly-sliced steak one day, chicken the next. Use your noggin!
Ok! You have no excuse now but to fire up the barbie and fix this simple recipe for grilled vegetables outdoors.

Labels: Grilled Fresh Vegetables, Grilled Mixed Vegetables Recipe, Grilled Vegetables, Grilled Vegetables Marinade Recipes, Recipe For Outdoor Grilled Vegetables

I don't think you can ever learn enough, get enough tips about grilling and/or barbecuing on a gas grill, or any kind of a grill. There are tons of recipes out there with different grilling and barbecuing methods all designed to prepare the perfect meal for you and your family.
I attended a class on grilling and barbecuing at Bauman Farms in Gervais, Oregon. It is about 35 minutes south of my home in Oregon City.
It's a huge complex that caters to families, has a first-class old fashioned general store, nursery, world-class landscaping display, and all kinds of fun things for the kids to do.
The class was conducted by Chef Dana Giardina (See above photo), a Portland chef who works for Whole Foods Grocery. Previously, she owned and operated a restaurant in the Pearl District in Portland, "Vitis Enoteca".
The class was two hours long and there were approximately 30 folks in attendance.
I thought it would be distracting to take photos during the session even though I had permission to do so.
I had the privilege of sitting at a table with some super, super nice folks�.Pete and Nancy and Dublin (Just like Ireland), she hasn't arrived yet when this shot was taken.

Chef Dana started the session with a "Grilled Asparagus and Sugar Snap Pea Panzanella". One of the best salads I have ever eaten in my life. No joke! I wasn't alone in my analysis either.
I'm thinking, "How come I can't get a salad like this when I go out to eat"?
Basically, you prepare a dressing in a food processor that consists of white wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, Dijon mustard, Kosher Salt and black pepper�.set aside.
Next, you grill thick Italian Bread, then cube, grill asparagus, and snap peas.
Other ingredients include: diced tomatoes, Kalamata olives, red onion, capers, pine nuts and fresh basil. Toss everything together. I will prepare it in a modified version and let you know how it turns out in a future post.
I didn't count heads but, eighty percent, or even more, of the class were females.
Now, I didn't think much of this until I got home and by accident turned on the "Food Channel" and the "Grillin' Girls" were on. A fact: the gals are much more into the total meal experience than the guys are. And, it's ironic..... but, this was what my class was all about�."the total meal experience".
Back in the late eighties( or early 90's), there was a grilling show on public TV put on by Chef George Hirsch. He was way ahead of his time. He still is...check him out!
He had an inexpensive gas grill with a heavy and custom-made cast iron grill. His show was based out of Florida (I think), and although he grilled meats and fish, there was a lot of emphasis on the right way to grill fruits and vegetables. And, he always combined everything making it into "the total meal experience". And, I might add, "healthy meals"!
Meanwhile, back at the farm, the first course was the "Grilled Asparagus and Sugar Snap Pea Panzanella".
The second was a "Grilled Romaine Salad with Spicy Caesar Dressing". Romaine lettuce, besides Iceberg, is one of the few types of lettuce that won't evaporate, or wilt completely before your eyes on the grill. I have a Marine Corps buddy that fixes this salad on his BBQ grill all the time, and everyone just loves it.
The hard part is the dressing that you have to prepare in a food processor which includes chipotle peppers and anchovies, among other things. A hard cheese should be added to the finished salad.
A little history lesson: Chef Dana told us that the advent of Caesar Salad took place in Mexico.
We then devoured courses of barbecued turkey breast served with a white sauce, beef brisket and Asian baby back ribs. The finale consisted of Roasted Stone Fruit and Vanilla Ice Cream with Berry Compote.
She told us about using a good quality, aged balsamic vinegar on fruit when grilling. Wow, talk about learning new things! It interacts with fruit to bring out the natural sugars.
All the barbecuing of meats were prepared using gas grills. She used two of them, plus a warming platform. In earlier posts I talked about using indirect heat on your gas grill turned to a moderate temperature, or low temperature.
I also mentioned using wood chips in a smoker box, mopping, or misting, and the using dry rubs. You might want to read my post again, because this is exactly what she did except for the misting part.
Yes, you can have genuine barbecue using a gas grill, you just have to use exact methods in preparing things right way which includes slow-cooking. All of Chef Dana's BBQ recipes turned out super excellent, but with one exception, the brisket was a little on the tough side because she didn't have the time to cook it as long as she would have liked.
Basically, in the old nutshell, the synopsis, all things rolled into a ball, all recipes that you can prepare in your kitchen can also be prepared on your gas, charcoal, wood pellet grill. There is something about cooking things outside that cannot be duplicated. For now, ten four

Labels: Barbecue Grills, Bauman Farms, BBQ, Dana Giardina, Gas Grill Recipes, Gas Grill Tips, George Hirsch, Grilled Vegetables, Recipes For Gas Grill Cooking, Vitis Enoteca