Grilled vegetables have a reputation problem: too often they come off the grill either charred and bitter on the outside while still raw in the middle, or steamed into a flavorless mush. The fix starts before the vegetables ever touch the grate, with cutting them into pieces thick enough to hold their structure over direct heat.
Dense vegetables like zucchini, eggplant, and bell peppers do best cut into planks or large wedges rather than thin slices, which cook too fast on the outside relative to the inside. Thinner or more delicate vegetables like asparagus and green beans benefit from being grilled whole or in a grill basket so they don't fall through the grates and char unevenly.
Oil matters more for vegetables than for meat, since vegetables lack the internal fat that helps proteins baste themselves. Toss your vegetables in a generous coat of oil before they hit the grill, and season with salt right before cooking rather than well in advance, since salting too early draws out moisture that can make surfaces steam instead of char.
Two-zone grilling, with one hot direct-heat area and one cooler indirect area, gives you far more control than a single even heat level. Sear denser vegetables directly over the hot zone to develop char, then move them to the cooler zone to finish cooking through without burning the exterior further.
Finally, don't skip resting and finishing. Pull vegetables off the grill a touch before they look perfectly done, since carryover heat continues cooking them for another minute or two. A finishing touch of good olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, or a scattering of flaky salt right before serving brings out flavors that direct heat alone can mute.
