Grilled Greek Garden Packets
Grilled Greek Garden Packets! It was back to the Mediterranean Grilling book again. Originally, I was planning on talking about the Greek Lemon Grilled Split Chicken I grilled, but these vegetable packets absolutely stole the show. The chicken was good too, but man…the magic of foil cooking never ceases to amaze me.
According to Diane Kochilas, the packets were inspired by a Greek dish known as briam. Briam is essentially thinly sliced vegetables that are baked together. This recipe was adapted for the grill by wrapping the veg in foil and throwing them on the grill. Kochilas calls the packets “smoked”, but in reality they are just grilled. No smoking involved. Better yet, Zoe handled all of the prep, so I was just the guy with the heat.
I envision these as a great side all summer long. Summer. Hmmmm, yes. Something I hope to experience very, very soon…because it was 20 degrees when I was grilling these things and I am so tired of running in and out the door to avoid freezing to death.
Anyway, the magic of campfire cooking and aluminum foil once again consumes me!
Grilled Greek Garden Packets
Adapted from Mediterranean Grilling by Diane Kochilas
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
6 small potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/8 inch thick slices
2 medium onions, peeled and cut into 1/8 inch thick rings
3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced into thin slivers
12 whole basil leaves
3 medium zucchini, cut into 1/8 inch thick rounds
2 medium green bell peppers, seeded and cut into 1/4 thick rings
6 ripe, plum tomatoes, cored and cut into yup, you guessed it 1/8 inch thick ovals
6 tablespoons crumbled Greek feta
Heat your grill to medium. Make six aluminum foil rectangles with heavy duty aluminum foil (roughly 18 x 9).
In a bowl, whisk together the olive oil, mustard, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and oregano. Toss in the potatoes, garlic, and onions. After everything is covered in the marinade, remove the potatoes, garlic, and onions and place into equal piles on each of the foil rectangles. The key is to reuse the marinade for all of the ingredients, so let everything drip well into the bowl before placing on the foil.
With everything equally divided, place a basil leaf on top of each pile. Next, add the zucchini in the marinade and then add the zucchini to the piles while preserving the marinade in the bowl. Add another basil leave. Continue this process with the peppers and tomatoes.
Finally, add the feta across all of the piles and then fold the packets together so they are sealed shut. Place the packets on a cooking sheet, and then place on the grill. The packets will grill over direct medium heat for approximately 35 minutes.
To eat, you can either dump them on your plate, or have them right out of the foil. Either way, they won’t be around long.
