What is Fired Roasted Vegetables?
Fire roasted vegetables can be found in a variety of cuisines. The vegetables are cut and cooked over an open flame, such as a barbecue grill or hot flame. The fire adds blackened sections that give a delicious charred and smoky taste while softening the veggies and bringing out their depth of flavor. Common veggies for fire roasting include zucchini, tomato, eggplant, onions, and peppers.
Ingredients
Zucchini is a summer squash and vegetable that grows rapidly. They can reach over a foot in length and will have a lesser quality of flavor and texture the larger they are. Most grocery store zucchinis are less than a foot in length and a few inches in diameter. They have thin, dark green skins that are smooth and sometimes shiny. The inside of the zucchini has a dense, yet spongy texture when raw and a pale green, or cream color. Seeds grow down the center of the vegetable and are soft and edible. Cooked zucchini is soft and mild tasting with a sweet vegetal flavor.
Botanically speaking the tomato is a fruit, but in the culinary world it is used almost strictly as a vegetable. Tomatoes are a nightshade plant that grow on tall, thick sturdy stalks. There are many varieties of tomato, but the most common type is round and red. It has a thin skin that covers its extremely juicy and soft flesh. The center contains seeds wrapped in a gelatinous film. The tomato is sour with a hint of sweetness. It can be sliced into rounds and wedges or diced into small chunks and is eaten raw or cooked.
The eggplant is a deep purple vegetable. Some varieties are lavender, or speckled with white and purple, others are a creamy white. The common variety is large and oblong with an extra round bottom. Some are globe shaped, while others are long, or miniature. The skin is thin and the inside is a cream colored and spongy flesh with tiny dark seeds. When cooked, eggplant takes on a light brown or tan color. When well cooked, it is soft and has a creaminess to its texture. The flavor is mild, acidic and nutty. It pairs well in many savory dishes across the world.
The red onion is a type of onion and a bulb vegetable, meaning its bulb and not its leaves are eaten. Onions come in many varieties, including white, yellow and red. The onion is usually round and has a thin dry skin around its juicy layers. The skin is a purple/red tone as is the flesh. The body of the onion is made of multiple round layers, that get smaller towards the center. The flavor of onions are sharp and sweet when raw, with an astringent taste. When cooked, these flavors mellow and the sweetness emerges. Onion are a very common flavoring and ingredient for many savory dishes.
The bell pepper is a vegetable by culinary measures, but botanically it is a fruit. Bell peppers grow in warm to hot climates and are somewhat bell shaped, hence the name. They are large, with wide ridges and smooth, shiny, thin skin. The flesh of the bell pepper is thin, crunchy and a bit juicy. They four main colors of bell peppers are red, green, orange and yellow, some are purple. The flavor is sweet, vegetal and mild. The inside has seeds that should be remove before consuming the flesh of the pepper. These peppers are used in dishes, both raw and cooked.
Garlic is used in cuisines around the world and is extremely popular for its depth of flavor. The garlic bulb forms underneath the soil and is harvested once it reaches maturity. The bulb typically has thin, dry, white and flaky skin, surrounding the individual cloves. Often there are 10-12 cloves to a bulb/head of garlic. The cloves are cream colored with a strong smell and flavor that is spicy and sharp. Garlic takes on a nutty flavor in addition, when cooked. It is used in countless dishes, sauces, breads and more.
Lemons grown in warm and sunny climates. In the US, they are a little smaller than a tennis ball. They have a zingy and citrusy taste that is sour and bright. The rind is yellow, textured and shiny. The yellow of the rind is called zest in cooking and used to flavor food. The pith, the white part of the lemon is bitter and not commonly eaten, though edible. The yellow pulpy and juicy flesh is used the most and adds a bright citrus flavor to any dish. Lemons are popular in many cuisines worldwide.
Extra virgin olive oil is an extremely popular cooking oil and used raw to drizzle onto a multitude of dishes or mixed into salad dressings. Olives are crushed in a mill and pressed to extract the oil. The color of extra-virgin olive oil is usually a golden-green. The flavor can be mild or sharp, though the sign of a good oil means a bite to the flavor and a spiciness.
Basil is a leafy and aromatic herb that grows in warm climates. There are over one hundred varieties, though the most common Genovese variety of basil produces thin green leaves, in a tapered oval shape. The leaves taste bright, peppery and almost minty; the smell is the same. Basil lends a spicy sweet and herbal flavor to any dish.
Salt is a mineral composed mostly of sodium chloride. It is the main flavoring used in food and is naturally occurring in certain foods, such as cheese, beets, meat and celery, plus many others. Salt is white and has finer granules than sugar. Many commercial salts include iodide, while others exclude it. Most salts are white, while some are naturally pale pink with minerals. Salt brings out the flavor of something and can create a tangy mouthfeel, if used in excess.
The peppercorn plant grows in tropical climate and produces tiny black fruit. The fruit is dried and become hard. At this point it is ground into a textured powder comprised of black and grey dots. It has a flavor that is spicy, pungent and sharp. Pepper is an extremely popular spice, especially in Western cuisines and lends a gentle heat to dishes. There are different varieties of black pepper and the flavor changes subtly because of this.
