I grill twelve months out of the year, but I especially love grilling in the summer, as it alleviates heat in the house on our typical Nebraska days!

If you do not have a grill basket, I highly encourage you to go out and buy one. They are relatively inexpensive (approximately $20.00), and are a great asset to your summer grilling. They allow for most of your cooking to be done outside, so you don’t have a mess in the kitchen. You can create a fabulous, low-fat meal on your grill in very little time. The baskets are low maintenance, too—especially if you line them with foil!


I’ve had the same grill basket for over ten years and it still looks brand new. They are durable through heavy use and hot grill temperatures!

I utilize my grill basket for veggies and various meats. In this photo, you see a combination of asparagus, potatoes, and onions. You can put almost any veggie into the basket that you want, in any combination. Be aware that veggies take different amounts of time to heat, so you need to start with the most dense veggies and cook them first, then add the veggies that take the least amount of time to cook.


With my grill basket, I line it with foil for easy clean up. I spray the foil with Pam and then a tablespoon or two of Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

For this meal, I diced up the potatoes and put them onto a hot grill first. I let the potatoes cook for 10-15 minutes, then added the onions, seasoning (salt/pepper/garlic powder and whatever else you want), and asparagus chunks. Once I combined all of the veggies, I added our meat to the other side of the grill. In the time it took to grill my meat, my veggies were perfectly tender.

I grill a lot of steak and chicken fajita meat, along with the peppers and onions in the grill basket. Again, easy evening dinner, without a lot of mess and heat in the kitchen.


For other veggie ideas, cooked in Extra Virgin Olive Oil:
(most combinations will take 20-30 minutes to grill)

  • Broccoli, Carrots, Cauliflower (start with carrots, then add cauliflower, and finally, broccoli)
  • Red potatoes, Peeled Yams (both diced), with onion and a dash or two of cinnamon. (start with the red potatoes, add yams, then onions the last ten minutes)
  • Potatoes, Carrots, Onions (start with potatoes and carrots, add onions last ten minutes)
  • Black Beans, Carrots, Canned Lima Beans, Snow Peas (start with carrots, add beans, then Snow peas the last few minutes)
  • Potatoes and onions (start with potatoes, add onions the last ten minutes, top with grated Cheese of your choice)

What’s on your grill this summer? 

 

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Julie Everett

Along with cooking, I have a profound love of teaching--children and adults alike. I am an Instructional Learning Coach for Kearney Public Schools. I live on a lake along the Platte River with my husband, Jason. We have three children: Brittany, Gordon, and Colvin. I enjoy running, biking, long walks, painting, decorating, hanging on the beach, reading, and of course, cooking and eating! If you would like to contact me, you may do so by emailing me at: [email protected]

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