A Summer Vegetable Fiesta

While Saturday's field trip to farmer's market didn't lead Heather and I to the bounty of grillable vegetables that we had invisioned, we did have an enjoyable outing and an even more wonderful dinner. The Walla Walla farmer's market is mostly composed of prepared foods and lots of seasonal fruits. We did, however, acquire 3 beautiful, large zucchinis for two dollars, enormous sweet onions and a bag of mixed rainbow chard, collard greens and kale. I also got one of the most delicious, fresh squeezed in-front-of-my-face, vegetable juices. A mixture of organic carrots, beets, apples and ginger-the perfect summer snack. Upon returning home I sliced the zucchinis lengthwise, cut up some red bell peppers and cut the onions into discs. In one bag, I marinated the zucchini and peppers in a mixture of olive oil, garlic, lime juice, salt and pepper. In another bag, I covered the onions in some oil, salt and pepper. In addition, I blanched a sweet potato until just soft, cut it into slices and marinated it in olive oil, cayenne pepper, brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, salt and pepper. Later, after getting into a rather rambunctious tussle with the coals, I threw all of the above onto the grill (well not all at once, we have the teeny, tiniest Weber ever...so it took a few rounds). The grilled veggies turned out delicious as usual but the grilled sweet potato fries were a revelation. I got the inspiration from a similar recipe I saw on Grill It with Bobby Flay, though I altered the recipe to fit my preferences. The sweet and spicy with the cinnamon and the caramelized brown sugar?? Genius. These are definitely a new staple. As for the mixed leafy greens? I'm off to cook them for lunch. Details to follow.