Updated on 6/19/2020
June is LGBTQ Pride Month. The abbreviation LGBTQ recognizes those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer. Did you know June 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of annual LGBTQ+ pride celebrations? According to the Library of Congress, the first pride march was held in NYC on June 28, 1970 which was the one year anniversary of The Stonewall Uprising.
If you have ever been to a pride parade, you’ve likely seen various flags waving in the crowd with the traditional being the rainbow flag. Each one has a different meaning. Here is a list of the various pride flags and what they symbolize if you are not familiar.
In honor of pride month, I’m bringing the rainbow to the table in the form of delicious, roasted vegetables. You can roast all sorts of different vegetables, but it’s important to get a variety of colors for good nutritional health (hence the rainbow). Just like each color of the flag represents a different aspect of queer pride, each different colored vegetable can provide an important nutrient for overall health:
Red: lycopene, anthocyanin (red bell peppers, beets, tomatoes)
Orange: vitamin A, potassium (orange bell peppers, carrots, butternut squash)
Yellow: potassium, vitamin B6 (yellow bell peppers, yellow squash, corn)
Green: iron, vitamin K, folate (broccoli, brussel sprouts, asparagus)
Blue & Purple: anthocyanin (eggplant, red onion, purple carrots)
The beauty of this recipe is that you can tailor it to your own taste buds. Use the list above to create your own rainbow of nutrients by choosing one or two vegetables from each color. In the picture, I used red onion, cherry tomatoes, brussel sprouts, yellow bell pepper, carrots, and broccoli.
Grilled Rainbow Veggies
Ingredients
- 1 medium red onion (Or other blue/purple vegetable)
- 1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes (Or other red vegetable)
- 1 large yellow bell pepper (Or other yellow vegetable)
- 2 cups fresh broccoli florets (Or other green vegetable)
- 3 medium carrots (Or other orange vegetable)
- 4 Tbsp olive oil divided
- salt, pepper, & garlic powder to taste
Instructions
- Prepare all vegetables by washing and cutting them into bite size pieces.
- In a bowl, toss bell pepper, broccoli, and carrots with 2 Tbsp olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Set tomatoes and red onion to the side (they tend to cook much quicker).
- Place grill basket on hot grill over indirect flame and allow to heat up (5 minutes or so).
- Dump the prepared bell pepper, broccoli, and carrots into the grill basket stirring occasionally. You will want to watch them closely so they do not burn (but a little char adds some good flavor in my opinion).
- Half way through cooking, add tomatoes, red onion, and additional 2 Tbsp of olive oil to the grill basket. Stir to combine.
- Cook until desired tenderness and serve warm.
Think this recipe is only for the summer? Think again! You can enjoy these vegetables year round by roasting them in the oven. And when weather permits, I prefer to grill my vegetables to get that charred flavor using this grill basket. Make it a meal by serving these delicious veggies on the side with a spinach & feta turkey burger and some fresh mint tea. Nothing screams more like summer than a colorful plate! Enjoy and happy pride month!