I also decided to try this dish two ways: dutch oven and on the grill. I expected the Dutch oven recipe to be the better one, since cooking in a Dutch oven is pretty easy. Doing stir fry on a grill? That should be hard, but actually it wasn't too bad.
The Grill Method
To cook on the grill, I put a sheet of aluminum foil down on the grill, with a little bit of oil, heated it, and then added the minced garlic to brown. After that was done, I moved the sheet to the upper rack of the grill and cooked the veggies in a vegetable basket until they were just starting to char.
The Dutch Oven Method
The Dutch oven method was similar, except that I didn't use foil and cooked everything in the Dutch oven. I first sauteed the garlic, the added all the vegetables and cooked them until done. I added the green onions and stir fry sauce. My flaw was to leave the lid on. It kept some of the liquid that cooked out of the cabbage from evaporating, and that led to a fairly thin sauce. I actually had to add some additional thickening to the dish.
Overall, we preferred the grilled veggies over the Dutch oven veggies. That's not what I had expected. But I think the added heat of the grill brought out some additional flavor that was missing with the Dutch oven.
The final recipe for the winner:
| Grilled Northern Mixed Vegetables |
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1/2 (4 oz) can baby corn, drained
- 1/2 lb. Chinese cabbage
- 1 cup carrots, julienned
- 1 bunch green onions, cut into 1-2" pieces
- 1/2 (4 oz) can sliced mushrooms, drained
- 1/2 (4 oz) can sliced bamboo shoots, drained
- 1/2 (4 oz) can sliced water chestnuts, drained
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp sugar
- 1/4 cup chicken broth
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 5 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1/2 (4 oz) can baby corn, drained
- 1/2 lb. Chinese cabbage
- 1 cup carrots, julienned
- 1 bunch green onions, cut into 1-2" pieces
- 1/2 (4 oz) can sliced mushrooms, drained
- 1/2 (4 oz) can sliced bamboo shoots, drained
- 1/2 (4 oz) can sliced water chestnuts, drained
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp sugar
- 1/4 cup chicken broth
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 5 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- Cut the cabbage into chunks.
- Combine the salt, sugar, chicken broth, water, cornstarch and pepper and mix. Set aside.
- Stir fry the garlic in a tablespoon of oil on a foil sheet laid down on the grill rack. When done, move to top rack.
- Put the carrots, cabbage, corn, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and water chestnuts in a vegetable basket and toss with the remaining 3-4 tbsp of oil.
- Cook over the grill until vegetables start to brown.
- Put veggies on the foil sheet where the garlic is.
- Add the green onions.
- Add the stir fry sauce.
- Seal the pack, and shake to mix sauce.
- Cook on high heat over the grill for about 20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes.
- Open and serve!
- Drizzle with sesame oil before serving.
The video:
P.S. For more grilled vegetable tips and tricks, see my ebook, Grilled Vegetable Magic, available in Kindle Format or PDF format.
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