We are lucky enough to have a friend who is moving to North Carolina this fall. He visited last Sunday, and we spent the day eating tacos, walking around downtown, and playing arcade games. The night ended with grilling outside; the ideal way to relax in the waning evening heat. This post is less of a recipe and more of a way to decrease the intimidation that may or may not come from grilling. We basically placed our favorite vegetables in foil, drizzled them with olive oil, and seasoned with salt and pepper. The high heat does the work for you, caramelizing the sugars in the vegetables and making them the perfect filling for pitas or other flat breads, like naan. We hope this inspires you to create your own DIY pita bar, as the weather warms up in your area (but hopefully not the humidity!).

Ingredients:

• Onion
• Peppers
• Portabello mushrooms
• Broccolini
• Zucchini
• Chicken sausage
• Pita or naan
• Hummus
• Sprouts or lettuce, to top
• Shredded cheese, to top

Directions:

1. Heat grill to medium-high.
2. While the grill pre-heats, create foil packets. Slice each vegetable into similar sized pieces, toss liberally in olive oil, salt, and pepper, and place them into a foil packet.
3. Our favorite vegetables are listed above, but there are many other options and combinations. One time we forgot olive oil and it still worked well! We also usually add chicken sausage for flavor and protein.
4. Keep an eye on the vegetables, moving the packets around if they start to char, and tossing with tongs as needed. We don’t use any special equipment and our meals have always turned out really well!
5. When the vegetables are tender, add the pitas to the top rack of the grill. Heat on each side for about one minute. Slice open and fill with hummus, vegetables and sausage, as desired. Top with shredded cheese and sprouts.
6. Enjoy!

–Leah and Jeff

By the way, our guest was Jake Ketcham, and old graduate school friend of Jeff’s who is moving this way in the future. Check out with wonderful blog here: https://gottakb.blogspot.com/