Can’t decide how to prepare meat or vegetables for tonight’s dinner? Just grill it. When it becomes difficult to decide between stew, sauté, bake and steam, grilling is the way to go. With minimal prep time and maximum taste, it’s the best way to cook chicken, beef, mutton, fish and other seafood. Vegetables and even fruits taste twice as good after spending a few minutes on a hot grill. Grill some sliced tomatoes, eggplant, and green pepper to toss with pasta, serve with some grilled prawns or grilled fish on the side. Or create a scrumptious wrap by grilling pieces of chicken then rolling them up into a naan along with chunks of grilled onion and a fiery grilled hot chilli.

Grilling is a quick and easy way to add flavour to a variety of foodstuff. That enticing smoky, char-broiled flavour that is so difficult to resist. Grilling is also the most basic form of cooking — the method of cooking a food directly over an open flame — and it began when some of our brilliant ancestors discovered that holding meat directly over an open flame for a period of time “cooked” the meat. Another, and probably more likely, scenario is that these said ancestors discovered animals that had been killed in forest fires and found the resulting meat to be easier to digest and more flavourful than the raw stuff.

It is almost impossible to pinpoint exactly when our ancestors first started to use fire to cook food, but anthropologists estimate that the advent of “cooking” happened somewhere between two million and 300,000 years ago, which means that it precedes the earliest modern humans and even Neanderthals. What anthropology experts have managed to find at Mycenaean-era sites located in Greece are ancient souvlaki trays and griddles which date back more than 3,000 years. (In case you are wondering, souvlaki is traditional Greek fast food and it comprises simply of small pieces of seasoned meat grilled on a skewer.)

I updated my grilling app, iGrill, today and it now has Facebook integration that lets you see what other people are grilling right now around the world. Awesome. — Mark Zuckerberg

Unlike our ancestors who focused on meat when it came to grilling, we have the option to grill a variety of vegetables (tomatoes, eggplant, carrots, corn and garlic to name just a few) as well as fruits (such as pineapple, peaches, bananas, even watermelon). Grilled tofu, grilled halloumi cheese, and even grilled bread — the sky is the limit really. Grilling is an easy, non-fattening method of cooking and it adds exciting dimensions of flavour to any food. Here are some delicious grilling recipes to enjoy over the Eid holidays.

Simple grilled chops

Ingredients

1 kg chops
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 tbsp olive oil

Method

Mix together the vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic, onion and olive oil in a large resealable bag until the salt has dissolved. Add lamb, toss until coated, and marinate in the refrigerator for two hours. Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat. Remove lamb from the marinade, leaving any onions on that stick to the meat. Discard the remaining marinade. Wrap the exposed ends of the bones with aluminum foil to keep them from burning. Grill for about three minutes per side for medium.

Grilled Garlic Steak Skewers

Ingredients

1 kg top sirloin steak
1 red onion cup soy sauce
6 garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup sesame oil
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup sugar
1 tbsp grated ginger
2 tbsp sesame seeds
Sliced green onions for garnish
Thin skewers

Method

Whisk together the soy sauce, garlic, sesame oil, vegetable oil, sugar, ginger and sesame seeds in a large bowl. Add the steak, cut in one-inch cubes, and marinate for three hours or overnight. When grill is ready, cut the red onion into large chunks and thread the meat and onion onto the skewers. Grill for eight to10 minutes until the meat is cooked.

Grilled Corn Salad

Ingredients

5 ears of fresh corn, in the husk
1 lime (juice)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tsp honey
1 tsp smoked sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 of a small red onion, finely chopped
1 small cucumber, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 small red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 tsp chopped fresh mint

Method

Grill corn in the husks on a grill or over charcoal until husks are charred all over, about 15 minutes. When cool enough to handle, peel back the husks, stand the corncobs upright on a cutting board, and cut straight down using a sharp knife to slice the kernels from the cob. Set aside.

In a bowl whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, honey, salt and pepper until fully combined. Add the corn, onion, cucumber, bell pepper, and mint. Toss it all together gently until everything is well coated. The salad is ready to serve.

Grilled Pineapple

Ingredients

1 sliced pineapple (fresh or canned)
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp cinnamon

Method

Grill pineapple slices over medium heat for five to 10 minutes. While the pineapple is grilling, mix together the honey and the cinnamon. Drizzle the honey mixture over the grilled pineapple and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. This recipe works equally well with bananas (remove peel and cut in half lengthwise) and canned or fresh peaches (cut in half and remove seed).

Published in Dawn, EOS, September 1st, 2017