Are you ready the spice up your veggie game? These spicy smoked veggies were cooked alongside my reverse-seared ribeye steak recipe, so they had a hit of slow smoke with a quick hit of high heat. And the temperature wasn’t the only thing bringing the heat. This blend of spices is sure to knock your grandma’s socks off!
Just like my five ingredients carrots, smoking doesn’t have to just be about the meat. Good barbecue always has good sides to bring flavor to the meal, and good sides don’t always mean opening up a can of Van Camps Pork & Beans (although it very well could!). I try to hit the trifecta of food groups for my dinners; protein, carbohydrate, and vegetable. And what Pacific Northwesterner doesn’t like grilled veggies? Don’t answer that, we probably all know at least one or two.
How to cook Spicy Smoked Veggies
Start by slicing your vegetables. For the zucchini and yellow squash, I used a mandolin to get uniform cuts. For the bell peppers and onions cut to roughly bite-size. The vegetables will shrink a little bit as they cook, making those bite-sized cuts a little bit more manageable.
Once the veggies are cut, place them into a large mixing bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Using your hands mix the veggies well so that each piece gets coated with olive oil. This step gets a little dirty.
In a smaller mixing bowl combine all the dry ingredients. Please note, I wasn’t kidding when I said these vegetables will knock the socks off your grandma. If you don’t like spice then you have two options. Cut the spices in half, or completely eliminate cayenne pepper from the recipe. I like spicy food and this recipe happens to be at the top end of what I would consider an enjoyable eating experience as far as spicy goes.
Once the spices are all combined sprinkle over the vegetables and continue mixing using your hands until the spices are evenly distributed. Spread the vegetables out over a large foil-covered baking sheet (or grab yourself number 6 on my list of 10 BBQ Tools Every Griller Needs). You might want to use the largest baking sheet you have as long as it fits within your smoker because you want as much surface area as possible to have the smoke penetrate each vegetable.
Since I was doing these vegetables with my ribeye steak, my smoker was already preheated to 185 degrees and ready to go. Place the baking sheet with vegetables on the smoker and smoke for roughly an hour. I kept my vegetables on as I raised the temperature from 185 to 450 (per the instructions for the steak), so the vegetables got 5 to 10 minutes of higher heat. If you are just making these vegetables you can skip that part and just cook until the vegetables are done to your liking. Unlike meat, most vegetables can be eaten raw or cooked or somewhere in the middle, so the full cook time is up to your discretion.
Once the spicy smoked veggies are cooked to your liking remove them from the smoker and serve. Be sure to have a glass of milk handy just in case you think you can handle the heat!
Ingredients
- 1 yellow squash
- 1 zucchini
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 onion
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon New Mexico chili powder
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1/2 tablespoon paprika
- 1/2 tablespoon cumin
- 1/2 tablespoon coriander
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Wash and slice all vegetables
- Place sliced vegetables into a large mixing bowl and drizzle olive oil over, mixing to coat every vegetable
- In a small mixing bowl combine all of the spices then pour over vegetables, incorporating well
- Start smoker per the manufacturers recommendations and bring temperature to 185 degrees
- While the smoker is heating up spread the vegetables out over a large, foil lined, baking sheet
- Once your smoker reaches 185 degrees place baking sheet on and cook for roughly an hour
- After an hour raise smoker temperature to 450 degrees; once smoker reaches 450 cook another 4-5 minutes
- Remove from smoker and serve hot
One response to “Spicy Smoked Veggies”
I am one of those NW people that like grilled smoke vegies. Not so much with hot spices though. Will have to try this recipe this summer during a really hot day. Not veggies on a hot day. Throw the steak in as well!