What’s better than a BBQ at home with fresh ingredients picked from your own garden? You can rest assured the BBQ will be fresh, healthy, and delicious. Fresh-grilled vegetables are easy to grill and serve as side dishes with a tasty grilled chicken.
Make the most of summer vegetables with a barbeque
I’ll discuss which garden veggies to grill and how to best pair them with grilled chicken. You’ll also learn how to season and prepare juicy chicken and vegetables. The main ingredients you need for a tasty BBQ are chicken, squash, zucchini, and tomatoes. These veggies are prevalent in most gardens.
Home Garden Veggies
Those who have a garden at home know the satisfaction that comes with growing your own fruit and vegetables. To grow squash, tomatoes, and zucchini, you only need basic gardening skills because these greens are very easy to grow.
Grilled Chicken and Home-grown Veggies
BBQ chicken is best paired with vegetables and salads. The reason for this is that the charred veggies give a rich flavor to the BBQ chicken. It would be best if you use the right combination of spices and condiments. Dried basil, oregano, garlic powder, ground black pepper, and salt can be used to season both the chicken and the vegetables.
This combination of chicken and veggies is a healthy option, dairy-free, and low-carb. It is a perfect summer BBQ meal for the whole family.
How to season and grill the chicken
An excellent grilled chicken will be juicy and full of smoky flavor. The ideal cut of meat for the BBQ is the chicken breast. It tastes best when paired with the vegetables we mentioned.
It would be best if you gave your chicken breasts some good spice rub to enhance the flavor. In a small bowl, make your spice rub. Here’s what you need:
- Smoked paprika for smokiness
- Ground black pepper
- Sea salt to give the meat its flavor
- Garlic powder
- Cumin for a hint of nutty flavor
- Dried coriander because it complements chicken well
Rub your spices on both sides of the chicken breast and preheat your grill to medium-high heat. Once the grill is hot, make sure you grill each breast for about 5 to 7 minutes on each side until you see that it’s charred. This way, the chicken will retain its moisture inside and have a nice smoky exterior crust. To be extra sure, use a thermometer to check that the interior temperature of the chicken is 165 degrees F.
Now it’s time to prepare your vegetables.
Squash
In early spring, you need to plant summer squash seeds about 4 to 6 inches apart. The plants grow large leaves and lots of squash. You can start harvesting in late June, and production will stop late August or early September. The yield of squash varies greatly, with anywhere from 5 to 80 pounds of squash.
Yellow squash is a good source of potassium, and it adds a refreshing and juicy taste to your BBQ.
How to grill squash
Squash is easy to prepare on the grill. You can grill the squash directly on the grates. The best type of squash for a BBQ is yellow squash because it’s flavorful and ready in only 5 minutes.
To prepare the squash, cut up the squash into round pieces (circles). Add ground black pepper, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, dried oregano, and dried basil. Now, preheat the grill to medium heat, which is about 400 degrees F. Place your squash rounds on the grill and grill them for approximately 5 minutes, only turning them once until they are charred.
Zucchini
Zucchini is cultivated in the same way that squash is. The seeds should be planted in early spring in the fertile ground in a sunny spot. Zucchini is actually a type of squash, but it’s green and generally thinner and smaller.
Like squash, zucchini has a high yield of about six to ten pounds of zucchini per plant each season. It grows well in gardens, and you can even grow it in pots, like tomatoes.
How to grill zucchini
Zucchini grilled to perfection served alongside grilled chicken breast is an excellent BBQ combination. It is popular because it is low in calories. To get started, you need to slice up your zucchini into long thin vertical strips. Use a knife or mandolin to do this and make sure the zucchini strips are not too thin, or they will fall apart.
Season the zucchini with the same herbs and spices as the squash and add a splash of vinegar for extra flavor. Grill for a few minutes until the zucchini is charred, and you can see the grate marks.
Tomatoes
It’s easy to grow tomatoes in the garden, on the patio, and even on a balcony in planters. Plant the seedlings in spring in a sunny spot. Tomato plants need lots of sunshine to produce lots of fruit. Plant your seedlings 30 to 45 inches apart. You’ll have plenty of tomatoes all summer long.
Choose a combination of cherry, green zebra, and some sweet red varieties to have in your garden. It will make your BBQ pop with color and flavor.
How to smoke tomatoes
If you like roasted tomatoes, you’ll really enjoy the taste of smoked tomatoes. Smoking gives tomatoes extra flavor and brings out that sweetness. You don’t need fancy seasoning for this recipe. Cut your tomatoes in half and season with ground black pepper, olive oil, salt, and some smoked paprika.
Set your grill to the smoker setting. Next, put your tomatoes on baking sheets and smoke for about 45 minutes. The edges of your tomatoes should be curled after this time and ready to eat.
This combination of grilled chicken, smoked tomatoes, and charred veggies is sure to please anyone. It is a good source of protein, fiber, vitamin A, C, E as well as other healthy nutrients. So, make sure to try this combo the next time you gather your friends and family for an outdoor BBQ.
Thanks to Tom from US Site Tom’s Barbecue Guide for this article.
