Grilling vegetables on a Traeger can add another flavor dimension, especially when the vegetables grill over an open grate. A Traeger grill uses untreated, natural wood pellets as fuel and an electric element starts the fire. Besides the caramelization created by cooking the food on the grill, the wood smoke adds to the flavor. You can employ several techniques to cook vegetables on the grill, depending on the vegetable, texture and flavor you want.
Open the lid of the Traeger and set the control to smoke. After three or four minutes, smoke begins to appear. Close the lid and select the temperature you want for the vegetables. The hopper beside the grill holds the pellets and an auger supplies the wood pellets to the grill based on the temperature setting.
Lay the vegetables on the grill directly once it is hot enough. Asparagus, zucchini, mushrooms and corn on the cob can go directly on the grate since they cook quickly. Traeger recommends cooking most vegetables at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Roasted peppers are easy to grill since the skin holds the meat and juice inside the peppers. Grilled onion slices tend to fall apart, so putting a thin skewer horizontally through the slices helps keep the onion together. You can also put onions and other small vegetables in grill baskets for easy turning or lay them on special grill grates that have smaller holes to prevent the slices from falling through.
Steam vegetables that take longer to cook by putting them in packets of double layer or heavy duty aluminum foil with a little added water. Sliced carrots with onions and a bit of butter cook well using this technique. Do not put high acid food like tomatoes or lemon slices inside foil packets, since the aluminum leaches into the food. If you want the vegetables to have a smoky flavor, open the packets when the vegetables are nearly done so the smoke can reach the contents.
Wrap larger vegetables in foil. Hard squash, beets, baked potatoes and sweet potatoes bake well inside foil.
Use kitchen pans to cook on the grill when using different ingredients in vegetable dishes. Scalloped potatoes, corn casserole and succotash are easy to bake in a Traeger grill using skillets or metal pans.
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Writer Bio
Jackie Johnson is a published writer and professional blogger, and has a degree in English from Arizona State University. Her background in real estate analysis prepared her for objective thinking, researching and writing.