Cleaning
Select fresh green beans and/or asparagus and wash in cold water. For asparagus, snap off the bottom end of each spear. The natural breaking point varies slightly from spear to spear. Discard the bottom ends. For green beans, cut off and discard the stem ends.
Marinating
Place the vegetables in a plastic zip-loc freezer bag and add fresh lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, Three Little Pig’s All Purpose Rub. For one bundle of asparagus, or enough green beans to serve two, use the juice (and pulp) from ½ of a large lemon, ¼ cup olive oil, about 1 tablespoon of garlic flakes, and a light sprinkling of salt. Seal the bag, squeezing out as much air as possible, and let marinate for at least 15 minutes.
Grilling
Place the vegetables over direct heat on the grill surface in a loose pile, being cautious of flare-ups from the olive oil. If you take a little care to drop the vegetables on the grill one piece at a time, you shouldn’t be bringing too much oil along with them. Discard the liquid. I like using Grill Grates they are perfect for these veggies, but if the spacing on your grill surface is wider than the beans or the asparagus, take care to place them across the grates. Place the veggies in a loose pile. At 500 to 600 degrees the veggies should grill for a total of about 6 minutes with the hood closed. Halfway through, turn the veggies over. It is not important to turn each bean or asparagus spear over, just loosely turn most of the pile over using tongs and slightly redistribute on the grill surface.
When done, the vegetables should still be crisp and green, with blackened spots over less then 25% of the surface. Remove from the grill and serve. Add a little salt if necessary, but the veggies should still be glistening and moist, needing no butter or additional oil.
Serve grilled beans or asparagus alongside fish, steaks or chops, simply prepping them as the grill preheats and then adding them to the fire six minutes before the main dish is done. This method also works well for ¼” thick slices of zucchini, but you need to use only about a tablespoon of lemon juice. The sliced zucchini really absorbs the lemon flavor.
Chris Marks CBBQE (Chief BBQ Expert) Three Little Pig’s Rubs & Sauces and Good-One Smoker/Grills
