Pic(k) of the Week: Stout-Marinated Grilled Veggies

Recent research has found that soaking meat in beer, before grilling, reduces the formation of cancer-causing HCAs (heterocyclic amines) during the high heat of grilling, a reaction between amino acids and creatine.

There's no mention of vegetables, but the former and latter will both be 'tastified' if marinated first. So, here's a cancer-warding Saturday edition of #VeggieDag Thursday:

Grilling vegetables, marinated in Stout ale

VEGETABLES

• Zucchini: washed, skin, on, chopped in large rounds.
• Summer squash: washed, skin, on, chopped in large rounds.
• Shitake mushrooms: brushed and washed, stems chopped.
• Vidalia onions: sliced into large wedges.
• Bell peppers: de-seeded, chopped into thick strips.
• Asparagus: stalk ends removed. (Peeled, if thick stalks.)
• Whatever is in season!

MARINADE

• 1 c. extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 c. fresh-squeezed lemon juice
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 shallot chopped
• 1 jalapeno or habanero chopped (optional)
• 4 oz. 'craft' brewery stout
• 2 TBSP Tamari
• 1 TBSP freshly cracked black pepper
• 2 tsp. Spike seasoning (or your favorite non-salted, dried herb mixture).
• And/or 1 tsp. minced marjoram and/or fresh oregano
• 1 tsp. sea salt

PROCEDURE

• Chop the vegetables large enough so that the vegetables will not fall through the grates of the grill.
• Marinate for 3 hours (or overnight in refrigerator, covered).
• Strain the vegetables in a sieve (especially if you've used hot peppers) but reserve the marinade for basting.
• Place the vegetables on a skewer and then directly on the grill, or loose on chicken wire over the grate or on aluminum foil punched with numerous small holes (or, if you must, a manufactured vegetable grill-basket).
• When grilling, avoid direct flame. Turn the vegetables frequently and mop with the remaining marinade to prevent them from drying out (and to add more flavor). The vegetables are done when the skin begins to blister and/or the middle becomes soft, anywhere from five to twenty minutes, depending on the heat of the grill.
• Reserve the remaining 8 ounces of stout for the grillmaster.

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• If you're vegan, you might wish to avoid Guinness Stout, in which fish-derived isinglass is used for clarification. However, the brewery recently did announce its intention to eliminate that procedure. There are other breweries that also employ isinglass —particularly for the production of cask ales in the [former?] U.K.— and there are breweries, worldwide, that employ (pig-derived) gelatin for beer clarification. The majority of beers, however, are vegan (barley is a grain; hops are an herb).
• By the way, I marinated the vegetables pictured above in Peg Leg Stout, a milder-than-others 'imperial' stout from Heavy Seas Brewing (of Baltimore, Maryland).
• For the upcoming Independence Day weekend, why not prepare grilled veggies and ... a mayonnaise-free potato salad? Recipe: here.


• Pic(k) of the Week: one in a weekly series of personal photos, usually posted on Saturdays, and often, but not always, with a good fermentable as the subject. Camera: Olympus Pen E-PL1.
• Commercial reproduction requires explicit permission, as per Creative Commons.


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