Health Benefits of Grilling Vegetables

Vegetables are a very important part of a healthy, balanced diet. Vegetables not only taste better when they are fresh but they maintain more of their nutritional values this way too. Grilled vegetables can accompany a main dish or they can be served as a main meal.

If you want to grill vegetables, you need to pick the ones with lower water content. Cabbage, onions, mushrooms, bell peppers and asparagus are examples of vegetables that grill well. You can grill them directly on the grill or wrap them in tinfoil first. If you use the foil, you won’t have to add any fats or oils. Boiling vegetables isn’t so good for you because a lot of the nutritional benefit is lost in the cooking water. Fried vegetables can be fatty. Grilled vegetables tend to be healthier than other preparation methods.

The Many Benefits of Vegetables

If you have ever wondered about fruits and vegetables in nutrition, the truth is they are incredibly good for you. Eating more means your risk for type 2 diabetes, stoke and cardiovascular disease is reduced. Another of the benefits of vegetables is that they give protection against heart disease, kidney stones, some kinds of cancers and osteoporosis. Dark green and orange vegetables are better at preventing cancers. Vegetables are also beneficial if you are trying to lose weight. They are high in fiber but low in calories. This means they fill you up without being fattening.

Vegetable Nutrients and Their Functions

There are a variety of nutrients found in vegetables. These include potassium, folate (folic acid), dietary fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C and vitamin E. Folate encourages the production of red blood cells. Dietary fiber assists the reduction of cholesterol levels in the blood. It also helps with good bowel function. Potassium is important to keep your blood pressure at a healthy level. Vitamin A is good for the skin and eyes. Vitamin C keeps the teeth and gums healthy, heals wounds and helps with iron absorption. Vitamin E protects Vitamin A and essential acids from cell oxidization.

Grilled Vegetable Recipe

This is a quick, tasty grilled vegetable recipe and is easy enough for complete beginners. Choose some vegetables that will grill well, such as eggplant, corn on the cob, tomatoes, summer squash, peppers and button mushrooms. Clean and trim them. Each vegetable should be cut into thick slices or halves, so you get equally sized pieces.

Peel and parboil some small, preferably waxy, potatoes, until they are soft. Remove the silts from the corn on the cob, if you are using it, but leave the husks on. Soak in water for an hour. If you aren’t using foil, you will need to brush the vegetables, using either a marinade or some type of oil.

Heat your grill to medium hot. Put the vegetables in a foil pouch, directly on the grill or on skewers. Remember than dense vegetables like carrots and potatoes take longer to cook, so put these ones on the grill first. Turn the vegetables now and then, using more marinade or oil to brush them. When you can easily pierce the vegetables with a knife, they are ready to eat.

To make an easy marinade, you can mix 2 parts of olive oil with 1 part lemon juice and add a peeled, crushed clove of garlic. This marinade can be made a day ahead and kept refrigerated

KC Kudra’s real love is cooking and recipe making for his wife’s site GrilledVegetableRecipe.com and he loves making Grilled Vegetable Pizza for their four young sons.

Tired of vegetable soup recipes that leave you asking where’s the mouthwatering flavor? Then try ours fresh off the grill along with some nice vegetable side dish recipes.