grilled carrots and zucchini
July 15, 2013 § 40 Comments
One of my favorite summertime dinners is grilled vegetables. I delight in lighting the mesquite charcoal and piling as many vegetables as I can fit onto the grill. This particular evening we grilled carrots, zucchini and a whole head of garlic.
Carrots are topped with olive oil, scallions and bush basil. The zucchini has a gremolata style sauce made with parsley, garlic, olive oil and lemon.
Ingredients
- 4 medium zucchini, sliced in half
- 5 medium carrots, peeled, if you prefer
- a little olive oil
- sprinkling salt
- handful of flat leaf parsley
- 3 tablespoons lemon
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3 scallions, finely sliced
- fresh basil
- 5 tablespoons olive oil
After cutting your vegetables brush all sides with olive oil and set aside. Once your charcoal is ready or your grill is hot begin with the carrots. Carrots take a good 15 minutes longer to soften up then the zucchini. My grill was far too hot and the carrots started to char. Turn frequently to prevent too much charring and move to a cooler area of you grill. If they do char too much you may use a peeler to peel away the black areas once they cool off. After 15 minutes add the zucchini to the grill and cook 15-20 minutes until tender and brown.
Remove from the grill and toss with your herbs and dressings.
g r e m o l a t a f o r z u c c h i n i
Using a food processor, whizz 3 tablespoons of olive oil with handful of parsley, two garlic cloves and 3 tablespoons of lemon juice. Add a little salt and toss with zucchini.
b u s h b a s i l ( a. k. a. g r e e k b a s i l )
Where have I been? I have been buying herbs for years and particularly basil. This is the first year I have seen this basil varietal. The leaves are very small and have a slightly floral aroma. I have seen these trimmed into a cute little topiary trees. Mine stands about 14 inches tall. I purchased it at the farmer’s market for $2. As you can imagine, I was thrilled.
COTTAGE GROVE HOUSE 
simple, healty and yet tasty dish….
btw, we used to called the bush basil as kemangi in Indonesia
Oh wow. I hadn’t heard of bush basil before this season. I’m really enjoying it!
Strange Basil leaves, I can imagine your excitement :-)
Beautiful BBQ side dishes, can’t wait to try them!
Doesn’t get any easier than this….grilled vegetables. Keep an eye out for this basil. It’s quite remarkable. Seriously, we don’t even bother putting any “meat” on the grill when we make so many vegetables.
This all looks SO delicious and I especially love the look of that grilled zucchini. Mouth-watering…
Thank you so much! :) Your trip sounds like it will be so fun. I have always wanted to jump on a boat to Vancouver or Victoria. You are Lindy…right? I’m Seana (shawna) :)
Seana – I’m SO looking forward to seeing a bit more of Washington and Oregon. Love the whole west coast. And yes I am Lindy! ;)
There is nothing like grilled vegetables, love the combination and especially the gremolata. Perfect summer meal!
Thank you so much. Sometimes it seems like an awful lot of trouble to light a weber full of charcoal just for vegetables. Then again, not when they are so hearty and delicious! :)
Love grilled veggies too! Your basil looks slightly different than mine but, it could be the kind. I stopped at a market the other day and I seen cinnamon basil, I had never heard of it before! It seems kind of strange to me! ;)
Cinnamon basil? Wow. Interesting. Did you smell or sample a leaf? The leaves on this bush basil are approximately the size of my thumb nail. So mini and it really packs a flavor punch.
No I didn’t get to sample it a lady was watching over me like a hawk…lol!! Our basil gets about the size of the inside of my palm. Your little basil sounds so good!
I received 4 beautiful home grown zucchinis from a good friend 2 days ago. Now I know what I am going to do with them. :D
Oh good Fae! I hope you do, you will love them. We tend to cook them a little long because we enjoy them really soft in the middle. I know others would prefer them a bit crisp. Let me know if you make them! :)
What a perfect summer meal.
Thank you so much Michelle. :)
Looks delicious! I made maple and orange juice glazed carrots and some sauted sugar snap peas for dinner tonight. Veggies are the best side dish and healthy :)
Oooh. That’s sounds so good! Maple and orange together sounds like a great combination for carrots!
Your bush basil looks the same as my Greek style I bought a while back. Don’t know why it’s called that in the UK. Anyway, very easy to slip. I had several small branches inside a large, tall glass as a table piece and they took root after a couple of weeks :) I’ve just potted them on. It seems to be really hardy as herbs go. And a perennial, apparently.
– Loving the idea of your grilled veg! I don’t have access to any outdoor area anymore so I’ll just have to imagine how good they were.
The basil rooted that easily? That’s great. Seemingly most basil completely dies off so I’ll keep the roots in the pot and cut it back at the end of the season. Thanks for the information. :)
Grilled vegetables are the best! It has become my favorite way of preparing most vegetables now, Great ip about using a peeler to “correct” the occasional over-done piece. :)
Grilling vegetables is my favorite way to prepare vegetables too. Seems like the carrots were always turning black before they were soft. Then it occurred to me to peel them just as roasted red peppers. I also thought about giving them a good steam prior to the grill just to jump start the cooking.
Grilled veggies are the best! Try them with a splash of balsamic vinegar as well, yum! Oh and red bell peppers, they are fab grilled.
The basil you have there is the typical basil here in Greece (um, I suppose the name gives it away..!). The variety with the wide shiny leaves that you see in the UK is called “winter basil” here. I wonder why… ;)
Hmm. Winter basil, interesting. I didn’t recall seeing this greek basil in my travels throughout Greece and wondered if it was a newer “hybrid”. I think it is newer to us over here in America. I’ll give my grilled vegetables a splash of balsamic next time. :)
what a beautiful basil plant (and only $2)! Does it taste similar to “regular” basil?
It actually does, however I think it packs a bigger flavor punch than say, genoa basil, especially considering the tiny size leaves. I learned just yesterday just how hardy this little plant is from johnny over @ http://feedthepiglet.wordpress.com
he rooted a little bunch in water then potted it!
ah wow, that’s so neat! Thanks :)
Tiny White Cottage, This looks wonderful:) I love basil and your basil looks fabulously happy:)
Thank you. It seems to be doing very well in it’s pot. I can not seems to get enough of it and keep cutting it back however, it keeps growing and growing. :)
I love grilled veggies and funnily enough, I have yet to grill carrots! Will definitely try them next time.
Yes do throw a few on the grill! I mentioned how they blacken a bit. I was thinking about maybe parboiling them first to cook the inside a little…. otherwise a peeler works fine too. ;)
I can eat these 2 dishes everyday. This is the first time i am seeing a greek basil. How different is the taste as compare to sweet basil?
HI Danny. The taste is still very much basil, however, to me it seems to be far more pungent and intense. I can almost smell a little sweet floral scent. I haven’t made pesto with it yet. I used it on many other dishes and it was particularly good on caprese salad. If you have an opportunity to pot one you would really enjoy it.
I’m not sure if you have tasted Thai (Thailand) basil before but the look and the way you describe it sounds close.
I have. This does seem very close to Thai Basil except the leaves are smaller and softer too. I really like Thai Basil.
Super yummy! I have so many carrots we’re picking right now and have been enjoying them steamed.. but now I need them grilled!
Oh good! You will really like them grilled! :)
Yes, this recipe is right my alley! Guess what? I just bought a pot of basil too – from Trader’s Joe of all places and it is quite big and nice but yours is much more lush and much cuter.
I always admire the basil pots at Trader Joe’s! And they are usually priced right too. I can see making it through a whole summer of cooking with one of those pots…well, unless you make a pesto which may require the whole plant!
Nothing beats grilled veggies for taste, simplicity and versatility :) I love that you can pair them with just about anything!