Striped Vegetables

When My Beloved and I bought our 1979 era house in 1997, it came with original '70s equipment, such as a blender motor set into the counter top, a non-functional intercom system in a house small enough to talk easily from room to room, an equally useless and complicated security system, mottled brown tile counters with dark grout, kitchen floor of big plaid linoleum and Jacobean stained cabinets.

It also came with a JennAir grill, which we figured would be about as useful as the intercom system.

Wrong!

We grill everything and anything with the possible exception of ice cream and eggs. Meats, fish, veggies, breads - you name it, we've grilled it and enjoyed the results immensely. It's not as tasty as barbecuing but we can do it no matter the weather. My favorite so far was grilled pineapple and Spam skewers that we made for the Evil Empress's 40th birthday party - she's Hawaiian at heart and loves Spam.

Grilled corn becomes more mellow and richer as it browns and bland summer veggies like zucchini and patty pan squash improve with a basting of whatever vinaigrette I have on hand and a short session on the grill. MB loves grilled peppers, too, with blistery black places.

If you don't have a grill like this, you can get a similar striped effect with a grill pan. I can recommend striped veggies. So tasty when grilled in our cool, vintage kitchen!