With this trick, you can make the most delicious grilled zucchini
Anyone who has ever put slices of zucchini on the barbecue or in a grill pan (us, all the time!) knows that it can be quite a struggle to avoid ending up with wet, limp, watery ribbons, while also avoiding half-raw, flavorless thick sponges. So how do you go about it?
Because it seems like the ideal vegetable for the grill: easy to flavor with a marinade, convenient to pick up and turn with tongs, quite a crowd-pleaser—in short, nothing but good news. But in practice, you often end up with soggy, overcooked zucchini slices that aren’t properly seasoned. Here’s the solution:
Enjoy a nice salty soak
A brine bath! We’ve sung the praises of brining chicken before, because honestly, it makes a huge difference to the final tenderness and flavor of, for example, baked or poached chicken breast. But this vegetable benefits enormously from it too.
Anyone can do it
And it couldn’t be easier; you just need to factor in some brining time. For this technique, make a brine (in a rectangular Tupperware container, for example) using just under a liter of water and fifty grams of salt—about three generous tablespoons. Cut the zucchini lengthwise into thick slices of about two centimeters and place them in the brine. Let them brine for forty-five minutes to an hour; you may need to place a jar or something similar on top to keep them submerged. In the meantime, make a delicious fresh salsa verde according to this recipe, and heat up the barbecue or grill pan.
Turn up the heat (or put it underneath)
After brining, place the zucchini slices on a plate lined with paper towels and pat them dry. Then grill them on both sides until they have beautiful dark grill marks, and serve them with that amazing salsa verde. Delicious!
Now that you know the trick, feel free to vary the brining liquid, just as you would with other brined foods! Never throw away the leftover liquid from pickle jars, olive jars or jalapeños in vinegar again—really, anything containing acidity and/or salt works as a brine. You’ll never want to do it any other way…
Also read:
- Emma’s food pet peeves: zucchini
- Recipe: zucchini sticks with bacon (and dip!)
- 5 common mistakes when grilling over charcoal
Source: The Kitchn
