Lunch & Dinner

Vegetables on the Grill

Vegetables on the Grill

Miss Kate is my neighbor and best friend. There have been occasions that similarly to South Park’s famous, ‘Oh No, I killed Kenny’ line, I find myself saying ‘Oh No, I killed Katy!’ This is usually uttered as I watch her shoot up insulin like a reverse heroin addict. (What I mean by that is her eyes roll into the back of her head first, she shoots up and then comes back to reality instead of the other way around.) That being said, I try my hardest not to throw her into diabetic shock when she stops by for a meal. Summertime is the easiest season to feed her as the vegetables in our garden are abundant! By grilling them with just a smidgeon of olive oil, I can provide a healthy and satisfying lunch to my diabetic friend without causing a 9-1-1 incident. For those of us without diabetes, let us be thankful and eat right so we never have to live with this royal-pain-in-the-ass disease. Pictured here are vegetables on the grill that were cooked for lunch very recently when Miss Kate dropped in.

Fennel is excellent when grilled. (Chop and freeze the tops for a handy and flavorful spice to be used in recipes in the fall or winter.) Miss Kate loves licorice so this particular vegetable is a safe bet, in fact, I don’t know many veggies she doesn’t like. Grill them whole and when they are ready, get the soft inside out. So good!

Beets are easy to grow and since they are a root veggie, the grasshoppers seem to leave them alone! Make a little envelope out of some tin foil and load it up with thinly sliced beets sprinkled with olive oil, they come out perfectly every time! (A sprig of rosemary thrown in with them is also a great twist!)

I particularly love Brussel Sprouts but they are difficult to grow and Miss Kate hates them! But a small head of cabbage cut in half lengthwise and grilled is a great happy medium for us. (We once told our kids we had grown the world’s biggest Brussel Sprouts and served them grilled cabbage and it worked, they ate it! Perhaps I should tell Miss Kate I grew the world’s smallest cabbage and serve her Brussel Sprouts… hhmmmm…)

The artichokes we boiled, they take much longer but when picked small like the one shown, the entire leaf can be eaten. They are tender and delicious. Another advantage to artichokes is the more a person picks the more grow back like so many summer veggies.

Keeping the carbs low in any meal can be challenging and frustrating. Just keep in mind fresh veggies and small amounts of olive oil can make most any vegetable into a low carb meal.