Hi, how’s your summer so far? Nelson and I love hearing from our readers; leave us a comment and tell us what you’ve been cooking up this summer. We also love knowing where our readers are from so let us know where you call home in this great big, (er, small) world we live in. We’re north of Toronto, in the province of Ontario in Canada. Are you nearby or far away? Have you ever visited? Also, let us know what new recipes you’ve tried recently. Are you enjoying our stories and recipes? What would you like to see more (or less) of? Are there any recipes you’d like us to try? Let us know and we’ll see what we can do. We want to keep this interesting and delicious for you.
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Our Summer Vacation
This summer we opted to explore a little more of our beautiful country and since Nelson and I and our kids love road trips, we decided we’d stay in our nation and drive all the way to our Atlantic coast–known as the maritimes. We’re so excited. We made this trip 14 years ago. Our first child was a toddler then and obviously doesn’t remember a thing; and our second wasn’t even born yet–so it’ll really be new for both boys.
We’re lucky to live in a country that offers so many beautiful and unique landscapes and cityscapes. We’ve traveled a bit of Southern Ontario, and Southern Quebec and some of the East Coast of Canada. Although I’ve been to the West Coast on business, a family trip out West is still on our family’s bucket list. But this year is “destination East Coast”; we’ll tell you about that trip after we return.
Veggies on the Grill Before We Go
It’s probably not a surprise to you that we’re talking BBQ again. If you follow our blog, you know how much Nelson loves to grill! As much as we love a great steak or some saucy ribs, we’re also big fans of grilled vegetables. Throw in a little marinade and you have a perfect side or even main dish.
Although these veggies were a side dish for our grilled pork chops this evening we ate a whole lot of them…I think it’d be safe to say the chops were on the side. These veggies really don’t have to take a backseat to anything– they would be amazing in a nice kaiser bun with a little goat cheese or roasted garlic… Mmm… I’m already thinking about the next time Nelson grills vegetables! Is this wrong? I’m barely done with one meal and I’m planning the next already 😉 I can’t help myself!
Flavour flavour flavour!
Our vegetables were so fresh! We picked these up from our local Farmer’s Market. Nelson made a nice marinade using a balsamic vinegar and olive oil base and the vegetables stayed in the marinade overnight, (but he says that even 4 hours would likely be enough–it was just really convenient for us). It’s easy to grill vegetables, they’re colourful and gorgeous on the bbq, and they taste amazing when they come off the grill.
Grilled or not, add some veggies to your next meal, or heck…make veggies your next meal. Have a great summer (it’s not over yet), and always eat well, friends!
These balsamic marinated grilled vegetables are such a treat. Add some to your next meal, or heck...make the veggies your next meal. So full of flavour!
Author: Nelson Cardoso
Recipe type: Side
Cuisine: North American
Serves: 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients
8 portobello mushrooms, sliced in large pieces
1 medium eggplant,cut in thin horizontal round slices
1 red medium onion, cut in thin horizontal round slices
1 yellow zucchini, cut in thin lengthwise slices
1 green zucchini, cut in thin lengthwise slices
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut in large pieces
1 green bell pepper, seeded and cut in large pieces
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut in large pieces
1 orange bell pepper, seeded and cut in large pieces
The marinade:
½ cup balsamic vinegar
1 tsp dijon mustard
¼ cup maple syrup
1 tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
¾ cups olive oil
Instructions
In a medium size bowl, add all the marinade ingredients accept for the olive oil.
Whisk the marinade while slowly pouring in the olive oil until it's emulsified (it thickens).
Place the onions flat on the bottom of a wide and deep serving dish side by side.
Place the remaining vegetables in a zip lock bag.
Pour the marinade over the vegetables inside the ziplock bag and seal.
Shake the bag until and the vegetables are well coated.
Pour the coated vegetables over the flat onion slices.
Seal the dish with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for at least 4 hours or over night.
Heat up the BBQ to medium high.
Brush the grates with vegetable oil to keep the veggies from sticking.
Carefully move the vegetables to the grill. Use extra caution for the onions while trying to keep them in a wheel shape (these fall apart easy).
Let them cook for about 3 minutes.
Turn them over and let them cook for another three minutes.
Repeat the last two steps until you have nice grill marks on the vegetables.
Move all the vegetables to a serving dish and serve hot. Enjoy!
Notes
These are only suggested vegetable and how we prepared this recipe. Feel free to change things up a bit with your own favourite vegetables.
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