The One Tool That Makes Grilling Brussels Sprouts A Total Breeze
While it's true that grilling season conjures up visions of hot dogs and hamburgers sizzling over an open flame, if you're only cooking meat on your grill you're really missing out. Grilling vegetables can give them all the same charred, toasty elements that make grilled meats delicious, plus the flames can enhance their natural sweetness and flavors. Grilled vegetables also retain more of their natural texture than their steamed counterparts. The problem is, it can be a little frustrating to grill small pieces of vegetables like Brussels sprouts, which can come apart as they cook and fall through the grill grates. With the right tools you can grill almost anything, however, and the best tools for grilling Brussels sprouts are skewers.
Grilling Brussels sprouts on skewers is super easy, and if you like to grill chances are you already have the sticks hanging around in your outdoor kitchen supplies. It does take a little bit of technique, however, to get perfectly grilled sprouts. Most importantly, the sprouts need to be precooked, and you need to leave some space between each one on the sticks. With a little prep, however, you can eat these underrated veggies all summer long.
Prep and skewer the sprouts
If you've ever cooked anything on your grill on skewers, you know that there's not a ton of culinary skill required to get it right. In the case of Brussels sprouts, however, there's a little more to it than simply spearing and grilling them. The most important step is to precook them for a few minutes, because while Brussels sprouts are small, they're very dense, and the high heat of the grill will overcook (and even burn) the outside before the inside can catch up.
The easiest method for precooking sprouts for grilling is blanching them in salted boiling water for about five minutes. You can also pile them into a steamer if you prefer, or even pop them in the microwave for a few minutes, just be careful not to overcook them otherwise they'll fall off the skewers as they cook on the grill. The sprouts are ready to skewer when you can pierce them with a fork. Before you do any cooking, however, be sure to trim off the hard bottom of the stems of the sprouts and pull away any droopy leaves so that you're left with just the best part.
Skewer the sprouts and leave some space
Once the Brussels sprouts are precooked and ready to go, all that's left to do is skewer them before finishing them on the grill. If you're working with wooden sticks, it's a pro move to soak your skewers in some water for about an hour ahead of time, which will prevent them from catching on fire. This is an important step because when you skewer the sprouts you'll want to leave about a half-inch of space between each one so that they get charred on all sides. Once you get them all lined up on their skewers, season them with salt, pepper, and any spices you prefer, and then grill them over medium-high heat until they're brown on all sides.
If you already like roasted Brussels sprouts from the oven in the colder months, think of grilled sprouts as their summery counterpart. The tiny cabbages have a lot of natural sugar, so they will caramelize easily on the outside, as well as along any cut edges. You can even serve them topped with smoky bacon bits if you love that combination, and they taste great drizzled with maple syrup or freshly squeezed lemon (or both). Once you realize how easy it is to get all that roasted sprout flavor without firing up a hot oven, grilled Brussels will become a part of every backyard barbecue.