Marcus Samuelsson On The Grilling Mistake You Need To Stop Making

As a James Beard Award winner, serial restaurateur, and perennial staple on the Food Network, magnetic and talented chef Marcus Samuelsson's credentials are no doubt impressive, but his flavors wow even more. To achieve peak flavor, Samuelsson embraces grilling, and his advice for getting the most out of your grill involves thinking of it as more than a protein cooking surface. Chowhound caught up with Samuelsson at the fifth anniversary celebration for Marcus Fish + Chop House and the grand opening of Vibe BBQ by Marcus Samuelsson at Grand Hyatt Baha Mar, where he told us exclusively how to stop wasting space on your grill by cooking seasonal vegetables alongside your meat, chicken, or fish.

While top billing in grilling usually goes to the protein, Samuelsson urges home cooks to incorporate seasonal vegetables and think creatively. He says, "When you put in either fish or meat or chicken, cover half of the grill with vegetables and let the time of the year decide what that should be." 

But remember that you don't have to crank the heat on every cook. You can have fun with it by leveraging your grill's temperature controls. Different grill temperatures are better suited to certain cooking methods to produce unique depth of flavor: Higher heat is responsible for grilling's signature caramelization and char, while lower heat allows you to cook for longer and incorporate smoke. You can also make vegetables the star if you like. For example, Samuelsson suggests smoking half a cauliflower as a main in its own right.

Chef Marcus Samuelsson encourages at-home grillers to think seasonally. "So if it's summer, [you're] putting on your chiles, your corn, you're grilling your tomatoes or your peppers, and you're just charring that up." You can even incorporate those charred summer chiles with olive oil and lemon juice to make a dressing for your other sides. 

He elaborates with advice for cooler-weather cooking: "If it's winter or fall time, maybe lower the heat on that grill and then actually start barbecuing, smoking a little bit." That approach is perfect for dense, cooler-weather veggie options. Try grilled sweet potatoes topped with a grilled tomatillo salsa. 

Cooking seasonally means you're getting products with peak flavor that the grilling process further enhances. It's a win-win. What's more, you don't even have to peel those veggies, as the skins add texture and help protect the interior as they cook. It's easy to pigeonhole grilling as a proteins-only thing, but Samuelsson is here to remind you that the grill can do double duty and is a spacious tool for cooking entire savory meals, from meats to veggies and even sauces, all year round. It's a terrific way to make your overall cooking process simpler, letting the grill do the heavy lifting for you.