Comments on: Summer Meal Series #2: Grilled Vegetable Kabobs, Barbecued Beans, and Rice

By: BonzoGal

BonzoGal — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 19:21:49 +0000

Another fun grill idea is fruit. You can either skewer it, or do as I do and put it in foil packets. Depending on the fruit, you can sprinkle it with a little sugar, cinnamon, etc. I did nectarine slices with vanilla and a touch of brown sugar this last weekend and put the packets on the grill after we’d finished grilling dinner. (Chicken, grilled quartered artichokes, asparagus, and zucchini strips.) After 15 minutes the fruit was hot and soft, perfect with some ice cream.

By: Karen

Karen — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:32:41 +0000

I thought Sarah was your daughter at first too! Looks like she got some sun!!

By: Crystal

Crystal — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 17:38:24 +0000

This sounds delicious…we’ll simply replace the mushrooms with steak or chicken and be good to go! Thanks!

By: Karen

Karen — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:35:33 +0000

Thank you for the great vegetarian meal idea! My hubbie and I are mostly vegetarians and we have done similar meals. Those grilled veggies would also be great with a loaded baked potato. Keep the vegetarian meal plans coming! They are much appreciated.

By: Systemizer

Systemizer — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 05:25:36 +0000

Sarah’s t-shirt is winning.

Great color, fit and design.

If it’s consignment, thrift or secondhand, consider me a convert.

By: Greg

Greg — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 01:39:46 +0000

This is our first warm sunny day after many cool rainy spring days. Someone in the neighborhood is barbequing…it smells so good. We love grilled veggies. We don’t use tomatoes – but will often used canned potatoes, they grill up nice.

By: Pat Woodruff

Pat Woodruff — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 23:27:56 +0000

I thought Sarah was your daughter too! I bought most of these veggies today so guess what I am having tonight!!!

By: SLCCOM

SLCCOM — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 22:42:04 +0000

I saw an alternative to regular skewers in my local King Soopers. They are twisted wire with a twisted wire handle, and flex and hold a lot of stuff.

By: Ranganathan

Ranganathan — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 09:37:15 +0000

Wow, great to see a Vegetarian item. Thanks!

By: Rozann

Rozann — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 02:54:33 +0000

Another way to do beans is in the crockpot. No watching or stirring, just add the ingredients and turn it on. My favorite crockpot recipe book is Fix-it and Forget it Cookbook, Feasting with Your Slowcooker.

By: Anna

Anna — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 23:14:01 +0000

What I found most interesting about this picture was the knife Sarah is using. Trent has made lots of posts about good quality knives, but that sort of knive wouldn’t be my first choice for cutting up vegetables – it looks more like a peeling/trimming knife. See how much pressure she is using in her index finger? Much more slicing than chopping – takes time. Not meaning to be critical, just that knives really are important to efficient food prep.

By: socalgal

socalgal — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 16:37:27 +0000

Hey Trent,
Love the post. Btw, my hubby thought Sarah was your daughter…she looks so young! Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

By: Brittany

Brittany — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 14:11:55 +0000

a) I can’t believe you peel the zucchini! Does zucchini even tast like anything without hte peel? How do you get it to stay on the skewers once cooked?
b) @Johanna Agreed! (Can’t bring myself to be fussy enough to become an actual vegetarian, but I’ve stopped buying and cooking nearly all meat for myself.) But that’s no reason you couldn’t marinate these tasty looking thing.
c) “Kebab” is the romanization of the persian word meaning literally “fried meats” by generally referring to grilled meats as well. It refers to a huge variety of dishes (And doner kabab… mmm… if i coudl get that in the states, I’d strike the previously mentioned decision to stop buuying meat) “Kabob” is the american bastardization of kebab, and almost exclusively refers to cut of food put on a skewer.

By: Kristen@TheFrugalGirl

Kristen@TheFrugalGirl — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 10:41:16 +0000

Whenever I grill veggies, I make kabobs of only one type of vegetable, i.e. an onion kabob, a pepper kabob, and so on. This is because in my experience, onions take WAY longer to cook than peppers or mushrooms do. By separating the vegetables, I’m able to cook the onions until they’re soft without turning the tomatoes to mush.

By: David/MoneyCrashers

David/MoneyCrashers — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 09:53:21 +0000

Grilled veggies rock!!!

Great pics

By: Maureen

Maureen — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 04:17:32 +0000

I don’t use kabob skewers anymore. They now make these pans for the grills with holes in them. I cut up my vegetables and put them in a ziploc with some marinade and maybe some meat and let it sit. Then I just take the veggies and meat out of the marinade and place them in the grilling pan. I no longer have to sit there putting food on the skewers. Saves a ton of time. I used to have problems with my veggies falling off the skewers. Then I found this pan (available at any kitchen store or the grill section of Home Depot or Lowes) and I love it. I bought it several years ago and it’s still in great shape.

By: Martijn Reintjes

Martijn Reintjes — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 03:28:39 +0000

I notice you peel your courgettes and toss the peels in the composter, what a waste! The peel of the courgette has the most flavour! The Italians usually slice the center out of the courgettes and feed it to the pigs and use the outer parts themselves!
Also most vitamins are usually centered in and right under the skin. If you peel your fruits and veggies you loose lots of them.

By: brooke

brooke — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 03:02:54 +0000

Trent,
We have recently switched from rice to quinoa and wheat berries. The latter have many more nutrients than rice, and quinoa is a complete protein on its own. I find that we don’t even notice the difference, and in fact, my quinoa never gets mushy like the rice did! An excellent switch, and one i bet the kids wouldn’t even notice. This is especially true when we make burritos. Sometimes I add leftover quinoa or wheat berries to my egg burritos too in the morning, for a southwestern breakfast.Also good in soups (sub in a chicken and rice soup). An excellent way to boost any meal’s nutrient level!

By: AndreaS

AndreaS — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 01:25:17 +0000

I’m confused about what you said regarding it taking 24 hours to make beans from scratch, including “boiling” them overnight. Maybe this was a mistake. We “soak” beans overnight. In the morning we boil beans in water and a little baking soda, until they peel when you blow on them. Then put these in a bean pot with molasses and other ingredients, then bake for a few hours. But the actual time involved in making the beans surely is less than 30 minutes. I’m usually doing other things when I’m waiting for the beans to boil. We usually do two pots at a time to maximize the oven time, and freeze leftovers.
We have grown dried beans, and have fun trying different varieties. Sometimes I use a little of many varieties when I bake beans. It makes them a little more interesting.

By: marta

marta — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 01:03:29 +0000

JJ, I also spell it “kebab” because that’s the spelling commonly used here. Kabob is also correct, though.

Topic: this actually seems to be a good recipe, and perfectly healthy. Heh. Gotta try this one, as just today I stumbled across a pack of bamboo skewers in one of my kitchen drawers.

Good timing!