Farmer's Market Grilled Vegetables with a Balsamic Reduction- 52 Grilling Time Secret Extras

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Recently we had us a Whoop de Doo in my back yard.  I broke out the Weber grills and smoked Pork Chops (tomorrow's post), Ribs, Several sides and dessert.  24 of our closest friends stopped by and we all ate, drank and were feeling merry.

We've had a few changes in our life lately.  My wife and I, the famous empty nesters, are now the proud Great Aunt and Uncle -in-law to a beautiful little boy... Remy.


Remy had a bit of a rough start.  He showed up early and had to live his first month in a box in the preemie ward.  This day we celebrated his 3 month (and topping 10 pounds) anniversary of his birth with a little party and baby shower.

The big change on our life, Jackie and I have decided to welcome Remy and his mother to our home for a few months to give them both a fresh good start.  While Jackie and I are adjusting just fine, our 15 year old cat still looks at us with a weird kitty disgust look on her face.

While Remy is just a few days away from enjoying his first ribs, Remy's Mom has certainly enjoyed all the food we have around the house...

Like this BIG platter of Party food!!!

In an effort to make sure Remy fit in with my neighbors, I invited the guys who share a hairline with the baby.  I also enlisted them in the cooking.  This simple dish takes only a few minutes of cooking time and is perfect to get your guests involved in the cooking.  By assigning tasks it also frees me up to do the last minute details needed to make the night a success (like getting all the food hot and ready to eat at the same time).

So while I was cutting Pork chops at the cutting board I assigned grill flipping duty to the guys.

Their only direction was to make sure the veggies had pretty grill marks and did not burn too bad.

The women folk were put in charge of making sure the drink glasses were full.

These three did the best job of making sure that at least three glasses were rarely empty all night!

As to the dish in this post...

Among the EASIEST of all dishes to grill and among the most spectacular.  Beautiful colors, the illusion of health and those beautiful crunchy flavorful char grill marks.

Only a few VERY SIMPLE DIY tips (like making a Balsamic Reduction that enhances the flavor fourfold)... Or "leeching" the bitter moisture out of an eggplant so they grill up crisp and a little sweet.

An Easy, FANTASTIC Platter of food perfect for your own Whoo de Doo!

OK... Here's what I did...

Farmer's Market Grilled Vegetables With a Balsamic Reduction

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 Large to medium Eggplant
• Generous sprinkle of Salt
• 3 Large Carrots, cut into thick slices
• 3 Medium Bell Peppers (For color I used 1 Red, 1 Yellow and 1 Orange), cored, seeded and each cut into 4 pieces
• 1 Bundle of Green Onions, sliced lengthwise
• 1 Large Sweet Onion, Sliced thick (With a Skewer inserted (lollipop style) so they hold together on the grill
• 1/2 Cup Olive Oil
• Juice of 1 Lime

Cooking Directions

1. First, FOR THE BALSAMIC REDUCTION - in a small sauce pan, Gently simmer the vinegar over low to medium heat until the vinegar has reduced by 1/3rd... About 20-30 minutes.
2. Once the balsamic has reduced, move to a dipping bowl or a squeeze bottle and chill.
3. While the vinegar is reducing, FOR THE EGGPLANT, you want to leach out the water in the flesh of the vegetable.  It's the water that is bitter.  Slice the eggplant into large 1/2 inch thick medallions.
4. Generously sprinkle Se Salt onto both sides of the medallions.  Allow to rest draining for up to 2 hours.  You will see the large amount of water drained out under the colander.  When you are ready to grill, rinse off the salt and then generously coat with Olive Oil
5. While the Balsamic is reducing and the Eggplant is leeching, cut the vegetables into grill size (not too small or they will fall through the grates)
6. As each vegetable is cut up, dip into the Olive Oil to coat.  Rub with your hands to insure an even coating.
7. Prepare your grill for medium high heat with cool spots to move the vegetables to in case of flair ups.
8. Heat until the vegetables have beautiful grill marks (about 5 minutes each side),
9. Ass the vegetables are cooked, arrange attractively on a platter.  Squeeze a Lime over the platter and drizzle some of the balsamic reduction .
10. Serve HOT and ENJOY!

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So,  I am pleased to list this as one of my Growing list of  "52 Grilling Time Secret Extras" or "52 Ways to Cook BBQ and Grilling Recipes"!!!

Well over 52 recipes actually as I just can't stop... Over 100 in one grilling season (I love to grill!). But not just leat... Drinks, Condiments (LOTS of different BBQ sauces), Drinks, Desserts... even specialty items like GRILLED Pizza, and fun shaped Watermelons.  Easy and these ideas will make you the MASTER of your Backyard Domain!

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So,  I am pleased to list this as one of my Growing list of  "52 Ways to Cook Side Dish Recipes"!!!

Sure the meat gets all the glory but real cooks know it's the spread... the specialty Side Dishes that makes a meal rise or fall. Here's a few of my favorite recipes that will help to create that illusive COMPLETE MENU!

LOTS of Potato Sides, Vegetable Sides, Specialty Salads, Bread and MORE!

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