We did something a little different, for veggies, on our recent family camping trip through northern California and Oregon: Shiskabobs! This proved to be a great way to prepare vegetables, along with some steaks, on our camping grill – and the kids even seemed to like them.
We have tried to grill shiskabobs before, but we used the regular wood shiskabob sticks and it ended-up being quite a mess. The problem with the individual, thin, sticks is that they don’t hold the vegetables very well and a lot of them fall off onto the grill and into the stove. This time, however, we tried using our marshmallow roasting forks.
We have the cheap stainless steel roasting forks and, while they are not the best for roasting marshmallows because the marshmallows can slide off the end if you are not careful, the double prongs did a great job of holding the vegetables. The double prongs also made it much easier to flip the shiskabobs on the grill, which was really hard to do with the wooden shiskabob sticks, because the vegetables would rotate on the sticks.
This worked best on our Weber® Q® grill, because the lid traps the heat around the vegetables so that they cook all around and not just on the bottom. I think it would work on an open grill, or a campfire, too, but it would probably take longer to cook them – and tougher to cook them evenly. We have previously steamed vegetables in foil pouches – and that worked really well in the campfire.
Whether you grill vegetables shiskabob-style, or steam them in foil pouches, one of the big benefits is that you have leftover mushrooms, onions, tomatoes and peppers for an egg scramble the next morning. Targeting multiple meals is always a good idea, because it reduces the number of different foods that you have to pack, and it simplifies your menu.
I was planning on a marshmallow roasting fork upgrade, this summer, but since they worked so well for vegetable shiskabobs, I am rethinking that idea.
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Great idea. I didn’t even know you could buy marshmallow roasting sticks–we usually find sticks on the ground and whittle them a bit. We love veggies, and this would be a good way to cook them at home too. We also love sticks, so food on a stick is sure to be a winner.
Excellent idea! I will definitely be trying this next time I go camping, Thanks!