The appearance of a grill pan (a fry pan with ridges) in my household triggered many an experiment with indoor vegetable grilling. As the book included with the pan explained, the basic idea is to lightly coat the vegetables with oil and leave them to grill on each side without moving. Although my grill times were longer than what the book suggested, the technique worked well for some vegetables: namely, Portobello mushroom slices, zucchini (aka courgette) slices, and thick asparagus shoots. (Beware of slices that are too thin, which will fall apart, and too thick, which will not cook through.)
Although edible, the thicker and tougher pieces of fennel bulb, artichoke hearts, and green chili peppers did not cook enough despite our patience. Likewise, the taste of corn husks did not benefit from the grill despite the pretty grill marks (on the other hand, pre-boiling them and serving with butter, lemon juice, and sprinkled chili powder did help).The grilled vegetables thus prepared can be eaten as they are, preserved for a week or two in a jar topped off by olive oil, or turned into a salad. The latter can benefit from the addition of fresh vegetables, such as tomatoes and basil, feta cheese, olives, and a dressing consisting of olive oil, lemon juice, and chili paste.
Salad:
- grilled veggies (zucchini, mushrooms, ...)
- tomatoes, diced
- basil, shredded
- green & black olives
- feta cheese, crumbled
- 6 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp chili paste