It’s springtime, and summer will be here before you know it. That can only mean one thing.
It’s time to fire up the grill!
We recently fired up our grill and had a full, delicious, healthy, satisfying meal with ONLY grilled fruits and vegetables. Is that really possible? Yes, it is possible when you can get a variety of fresh, quality, produce from a store like Mariano’s. Not only does Mariano’s have a huge variety of organic fruits and vegetables, but they also carry locally grown produce. I love that they support local farmers.
Mariano’s made it easy to create a nutritious meal of grilled fruits and veggies.
I simply…
- Decided on a menu of foods to grill
- Wrote out a grocery list
- Headed to Mariano’s to pick up the fruits and vegetables on my list
- Used my Mariano’s rewards card at checkout
- Then came home and created a meal my doctor would be proud of 🙂
I thought that instead of explaining the dishes we made, I’d show you in pictures. This way, you can get ideas for yourself and see just how easy it is to create a full fruits and veggies meal.
Here’s the first drool-worthy dish.
You can put a variety a vegetables separately on skewers and grill that way. (Be sure to soak your skewers for 30 minutes before putting them on the grill.)
Then toss them together in a bowl to bring the veggies together. Grilling your vegetables separately is a good idea if you’re grilling tomatoes, because they cook so quickly.
You can grill your veggies huddled together on a skewer, sans tomatoes.
Grilled asparagus is so good on the grill. (It’s great in the oven, too.)
Portabella mushrooms are juicy and delicious. Wow!
We will definitely be grilling these again.
And finally, grilled mango makes a healthy dessert. Yum! (We also grilled watermelon with honey drizzled on top, but it was not a family favorite.)
We used an easy marinade recipe that was perfect for our grilled vegetables. Feel free to double or triple the recipe depending upon the amount of veggies you’re grilling. (A big thanks to my hubby for coming up with this recipe! He’s pretty great in the kitchen. :))
Here’s the recipe:
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup extra-virgen olive oil
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a blender and blend for approximately 1 minute.
I’m looking forward to our next fruits and veggies cookout. I’m sure we’ll be enjoying a lot more of these cookouts for months to come!
Have you ever created an entire fruits and veggies meal on the grill? What’s your favorite veggie to grill?
I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and Mariano’s. #MyMarianos #cbias #SocialFabric
This blog post was originally published in April 2013.
Shelly says
Sandra, We haven’t made a full meal out of just fruits and vegetables before but we do love grilled vegetables and fruit. Our favorite grilled fruit is pineapple although the next time I make mango with sweet sticky rice I will need to try the grilled mango. We also love grilled asparagus and peppers. Yum!
Sandra says
Hi Shelly, we were going to grill pineapple…but it didn’t make it to the grill. 🙂 Next time.
The sweet sticky rice sounds delicious!
Lena says
You had me at zucchini. just so you know: you pictures are bad – they make me hungry LOL.
It was nice meeting you last week
Sandra says
Hi Lena, Lol! And it was nice meeting you last week, too! I’m so glad to have been able to meet so many other Chicago area bloggers. I love networking events around diapers. 🙂
Alicia says
I am officially drooling. Now all I can thinking about is warm summer sun and wanting to make those grilled veggies too. It is unfortunate that I am currently covered by snow:) LOL!
Sandra says
Hi Alicia! Covered in snow? At the end of April? That’s crazy! 🙂 The weather is finally starting to warm up here, too, but the snow has pretty much stopped altogether. You know, you could try to grill in your garage….if that’s a possibility.
Alison says
I cannot wait to start grilling again! I just thoroughly cleaned my grill last week. I absolutely love grilling fruit, I don’t think there is anything better than that.
Sandra says
Hi Alison! Next time, I’d love to grill some pineapple. 🙂