Ingredients

• • 2 medium-size onions
  • 2 squash or zucchini
  • 2 medium-size eggplants
  • 8 to 10 mushrooms or 2 portobello mushrooms
  • 2 sweet peppers
  • 2 beefsteak or 6 to 8 vine tomatoes
  • 2 carrots
  • 2 parsnips
  • 4 beets
  • 4 potatoes
  • 1 savoy cabbage
  • Olive oil or butter
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Herbs

Directions

• Make a Quick Sweet Vegetable Medley
  Wash the vegetables in cold, running water, paying particular attention to the mushrooms. Remove the stalks and tough extremities of the squash, zucchini, peppers, tomatoes and eggplants with a paring knife.

  Slice the gourd vegetables into half-inch-thick rounds, leaving the skin on, or into lengthwise slices. Halve the tomatoes and peppers, removing the seeds and pulp from the latter, and cut the onions and mushrooms into quarters. If using bigger portobello mushrooms, slice them instead along the diameter of the mushroom.

  Brush the inside of an aluminum baking tray with olive oil, smear it with a stick of butter or spray with cooking spray, and arrange the chopped vegetables in an even layer inside. Drizzle the vegetables with olive oil and season everything with kosher salt, pepper and herbs such as thyme and oregano.

  Place the tray in the smoker at 200 degrees Fahrenheit for an hour. If using a charcoal grill, arrange the coals to one side and the tray on the other so that the vegetables smoke with an indirect heat.

  Remove the tray from the smoker and drizzle the vegetables again with olive oil for luster.

  Take Time for Root Vegetables
  Wash the vegetables thoroughly and slice the tops off the carrots, parsnips and beets. Cut each lengthwise into halves. Cut the potatoes into quarters, skin on, and cut into the stalk of the cabbage with a paring knife to leave a cavity. Fill the cavity with butter, salt and herbs, then plug it by cutting away the stalk to leave the outside disc only and placing this disc over the hole. Wrap two-thirds of the cabbage from the base upward with aluminum foil.

  Lay the sliced vegetables on a sheet of aluminum foil, drizzle with oil and season with salt. Bring the sides of the foil up to make a partial envelope, which will prevent any oil or juices escaping.

  Place the foil on a rack in the smoker at 350 F for 1 hour. Some vertical electric smokers are limited to around 250 F, in which case the cooking time should be extended to 2 hours. The cabbage, however, requires up to 4 hours, depending on size. To shorten the cooking time, trim away the stalk, cut it into quarters, and partially wrap it in aluminum foil, seasoning it from the outside rather than through the core.

  Remove the aluminum foil carefully from the smoker wearing oven mitts and season the vegetables with olive oil.

Tips

• Suitable wood chips for smoke include hickory, pecan, apple, maple and cherry. Soak them in water for an hour before grilling to get them damp, then lay them on top of the burning charcoal to create the smoke.

Warnings

• If cooking in a smoker with meats, place the vegetables above the meat, in case any juices run down.