Next Time You Grill Some Veggies, Grab A Roll Of Aluminum Foil

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The words backyard barbecue might bring to mind thoughts of juicy grilled steaks, chicken, and burgers, but there are other things you can throw on a grill besides meat. Vegetables, in particular, can benefit from this method of cooking as long as you take certain precautions. The best way to prepare vegetables for the grill isn't to slather them with oil and throw them on the grates. This would be a major mistake, as they may wind up greasy and flabby, not to mention the increased risk of flare-ups. But you don't want to cook your vegetables naked, either, since they might get too dry. As a better alternative, vegan chef Lloyd Rose of the food blog Plantcrazii suggests wrapping them in aluminum foil so they retain their flavor.

According to Rose, author of "Island Vegan: 75 Flavorful Recipes from the Caribbean: Jamaica, Trinidad, Haiti, Dominican Republic," encasing vegetables in a foil packet will allow them to steam cook. As he told The Takeout, "Using this method is key with vegetables that dry out easily like zucchini, asparagus, and eggplant." As a bonus, small and thin vegetables won't slip through the grill grates when they're safe inside a foil wrapper.

Lloyd Rose divides vegetables into two categories: The ones that cook quickly and the ones that take more time. The former includes asparagus, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, and zucchini, while the latter includes carrots, corn, and potatoes. If your vegetables are the quick-cooking kind, all you need to do is slice or chop the larger ones, but slow-cooking vegetables might require an extra prep step. Rose advises either cutting them into very small pieces or precooking them. (He's partial to parboiling, but the microwave would also work.)

Before you seal up the vegetables in their foil packets, you'll want to add a little bit of oil or butter and some type of seasoning. (Rose suggests lemon slices, miso, or sprigs of herbs like rosemary and thyme.) Positioning the packets is also important. "You want these to slow cook," he said. "Therefore it's best to not place the foil packet directly over the flame." Instead, locate them in your grill's cool zone. For a propane grill, that would be over a burner that's been closed off. For a charcoal grill, use an area with no coals directly underneath. You could also raise them up on a grill warming rack.