The Secret to Grilling Asparagus or Green Beans

This is another installment in our series of Guides to Perfect Grilling, and we hope you enjoy it. Green vegetables can be great off the grill, but sometimes a little tricky. Here’s one tried and true method from our Kalamazoo grillmasters. We hope your family and friends enjoy green veggies as part of your grilling repertoire.

Ingredients:

Fresh asparagus or fresh green beans

Extra virgin olive oil

Fresh lemon juice

Kosher salt

Instructions:

Step One: Cleaning
Select fresh green beans and/or asparagus and wash in cold water. For asparagus, snap off the bottom end of each spear. The natural breaking point varies slightly from spear to spear. Discard the bottom ends. For green beans, cut off and discard the stem ends.

Step Two: Marinating
Place the vegetables in a plastic zip-loc freezer bag and add fresh lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil and salt. For one bundle of asparagus, or enough green beans to serve two, use the juice (and pulp) from ½ of a large lemon, ¼ cup olive oil, about 1 tablespoon of garlic flakes, and a light sprinkling of salt. Seal the bag, squeezing out as much air as possible, and let marinate for at least 15 minutes.

Step Three: Grilling
Place the vegetables over direct heat on the grill surface in a loose pile, being cautious of flare-ups from the olive oil. Take a little care to avaid bringing too much oil along with the veggies as you transfer them to the grill. Discard the liquid. Our laser-cut vegetable grilling surface is perfect for these veggies, but if the spacing on your grill surface is wider than the beans or the asparagus, use a pre-heated grill basket. On the Kalamazoo vegetable surface, you can simply place the veggies in a loose pile. At 500 to 600 degrees the veggies should grill for a total of about 6 minutes. Turn and redistribute the veggies frequently for even marking.When done, the vegetables should still be crisp and green, with blackened spots over less then 25% of the surface. Remove from the grill and serve. Add a little salt if necessary, but the veggies should still be glistening and moist, needing no butter or additional oil.

Serve grilled beans or asparagus alongside fish, steaks or chops, simply prepping them as the grill preheats and then adding them to the fire six minutes before the main dish is done. This method also works well for ¼” thick slices of zucchini, but you need to use only about a tablespoon of lemon juice. The sliced zucchini really absorbs the lemon flavor.