Grilled Zucchini

I read an article in Cook’s Illustrated where they brined zucchini before grilling it and I thought, wow, that is so logical, why isn’t that more commonplace? I tried it with the full haul of zucchini from my garden when we had several people over for lunch, and wow, I was really impressed with the results.

Here’s how I did it.

The Prep

Create the brine:

Fill a 4-cup liquid measuring container about halfway with warm water and add:

• 1/2 C kosher salt

Stir to dissolve and then add more cold water to make 4 full cups of cold brine. Set aside.

Prep the veg:

Gather up

• 6-8 zucchinis (will fit in this brine)

Slice off the ends and then slice in half. For small ones, you could just keep whole.

Brine:

Put the zucchinis in a shallow dish and pour the brine all over. Let sit for 40-50 minutes (make sure you don’t let it hang out longer than 1 hour).

Putting it Together

Heat your grill to 450 degrees. Clean and oil the grate.

Take the zucchinis out of the brine and into a clean dish towel — pat them dry, and dry out your shallow dish as well. Add the zucchinis back to the dish and use your hands with some olive oil to ensure the zucchinis have a very small layer of oil on them.

Grill for about 5 minutes per side, with the grill covered.

Plating

When you are ready to eat, these are gorgeous piled back into a serving bowl and topped with simple ingredients — you could add some feta or fresh herbs, maybe even some almonds or other nuts.

Here, I made a quick garden dressing with tons of herbs and served it on the side: