This recipe was originally designed to be a balsamic vegetable kebab, served over seasoned rice, but at the last minute I thought, “Why bother with skewers?” Sure, they look pretty and making food look pretty is half my job, but my practical side won over. So, I spread these marinated balsamic vegetables out over a baking sheet, broiled them until they were every so slightly charred and caramelized on the edges, then just spooned them over my special lemon parsley rice. And there it was. A delicious bowl full of Broiled Balsamic Vegetables with Lemon Parsley Rice.
How to Serve Balsamic Vegetables with Lemon Parsley Rice
This recipe will make about six side dish sized servings, or four larger main dish meals. If you want to up the protein, you could always serve it with an egg, some shredded chicken, or tofu. I’m not an expert on tofu, but I’d suggest pressing it first to extract some of the packing liquid, then dicing it and marinating it along with the vegetables so that it can soak up all that delicious flavor. A little sprinkle of Parmesan wouldn’t be so bad on this either, but then I like Parmesan on everything.
What Vegetables Can I Use?
Since this broiling method is so fast, I would suggest sticking to softer summer-type vegetables, like onions, mushrooms, zucchini, summer squash, bell peppers, tomatoes, or eggplant. If you prefer to make harder root-type winter vegetables, check out my oven roasted Balsamic Vegetables recipe.
What if I Don’t Have a Broiler?
No problem! You can still roast the balsamic marinated vegetables in the oven. After marinating the vegetables, simply follow the instructions outlined in my Roasted Summer Vegetables recipe.
Broiled Balsamic Vegetables with Lemon Parsley Rice
Servings 4 to 6 servingsIngredients
BALSAMIC MARINADE
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.24)
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar ($0.80)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar ($0.04)
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce ($0.20)
- 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard ($0.12)
- Freshly cracked pepper ($0.05)
VEGETABLES
- 8 oz. button mushrooms ($1.59)
- 1 green bell pepper ($0.88)
- 1 zucchini ($1.32)
- 4 oz. grape tomatoes ($1.25)
- 1 yellow or red onion ($0.31)
LEMON PARSLEY RICE
- 1.5 cups long grain white rice* ( $0.72)
- 2.5 cups water ($0.00)
- 1 clove garlic, minced ($0.08)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.03)
- 1/2 bunch fresh parsley ($0.50)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.24)
- Zest of one lemon ($0.59)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, stir together the ingredients for the balsamic marinade (olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, brown sugar, soy sauce, Dijon, and some freshly cracked pepper).
- Cut the mushrooms, bell pepper, zucchini, and onion into one-inch cubes, or as close to that size as possible. Leave the grape tomatoes whole. Place the vegetables in a gallon-sized zip top bag and pour the marinade over top. Massage the bag to mix the vegetables with the marinade. Let them marinate for 30 minutes at room temperature, flipping the bag occasionally to redistribute the marinade.
- While the vegetables are marinating, begin the rice. Combine the uncooked rice, water, minced garlic, and salt in a medium pot. Place a lid on top and bring the pot up to a boil over high heat. As soon as it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low and let the pot simmer for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, turn the heat off and let it rest for 5 more minutes, then fluff with a fork. Allow the rice to cool slightly.
- While the rice is cooking, prepare the lemon parsley mix. Pull the leaves from about 1/2 bunch of parsley. Finely chop the leaves until they appear minced. Use a zester, microplane, or small-holed cheese grater to remove the zest from one lemon. Combine the minced parsley, about 1/2 Tbsp lemon zest, and olive oil in a small bowl.
- When the rice has cooled just slightly, add the lemon parsley mix and fold gently until the rice is coated in parsley, lemon, and olive oil. Avoid vigorous stirring, as this can make the rice pasty.
- Adjust the oven rack to the second position from the top and preheat the broiler on high. Cover a large baking sheet with parchment. Spread the marinated vegetables out over the surface of the baking sheet. If they do not cover the sheet in a single layer, use two baking sheets to avoid over crowding.
- Broil the vegetables about 6-8 inches from the flame for 10 minutes, or until they achieve a subtle char on the edges. Every broiler is slightly different, so keep a close eye on them and turn the baking sheet as needed. For more even broiling, stir the vegetables half way through.
- Fill each bowl with a scoop of lemon parsley rice and a pile of the broiled balsamic vegetables.
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Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
How to Make Broiled Balsamic Vegetables and Lemon Parsley Rice – Step by Step Photos
Begin by mixing up this delicious balsamic marinade. Stir together 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, 2 Tbsp brown sugar, 2 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp Dijon, 2 minced cloves of garlic, and a healthy dose of freshly cracked pepper.
Next, chop up your vegetables. I used an 8oz. container of mushrooms (on sale, woo!), one bell pepper, one zucchini, a 4oz. container of grape tomatoes, and one yellow onion. I happened to have half of a red onion in my fridge that needed to be used, so I just threw that in there for giggles. You can use either a yellow or red/purple onion. Either will work.
Try to cut the vegetables in fairly uniform pieces, about one-inch cubes. Because the tomatoes are so small, you can just leave them whole. Place the cut vegetables in a gallon-sized zip top bag, then pour the marinade over top. Massage the bag a bit to make sure the marinade is distributed among the vegetables. Let them marinate for about 30 minutes. Since it’s such a short marination, it can be at room temperature. Any longer and I’d suggest placing it in the fridge just to be sure.
While the vegetables are marinating, start on the Lemon Parsley Rice. To cook the rice, combine 1.5 cups of long grain white rice with 2.5 cups water, 1 minced clove of garlic, and 1/2 tsp salt. Place a lid on top and bring to a boil over high heat. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low and let simmer for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, turn the heat off and let it sit for 5 minutes before fluffing with a fork. While the rice is cooking, Pull the leaves from the stems of about 1/2 bunch of parsley.
Chop the parsley until it is very finely minced.
Use a microplane, zester, or small-holed cheese grater to scrape the yellow zest from one lemon.
Combine the minced parsley, about 1/2 Tbsp lemon zest, and 2 Tbsp olive oil in a small bowl.
Once the rice is finished cooking, let it cool just slightly (so that it doesn’t “cook” the parsley and lemon zest), then add the lemon parsley mix.
Gently fold the lemon parsley mix into the rice until the rice is evenly coated. Try to avoid vigorous stirring because that can make the rice sticky.
Finally, adjust your oven rack to the second level from the top and turn the broiler on to high. Spread the marinated vegetables out over a baking sheet (or two). I lined my baking sheet with parchment for easy clean up.
Place the baking sheet in the oven (it should be about 6-8 inches from the flame). Let the vegetables broil until they achieve a slight char on the edges.
Every oven is a little different and rack heights vary, so you’ll need to just keep a close eye on them. My vegetables took about 10 minutes before I liked the amount of brown they had. For more even browning, stir the vegetables halfway through.
Scoop some of the Lemon Parsley Rice into a bowl, then top it with the Broiled Balsamic Vegetables.
Then enjoy. :)
The marinade and veg are stellar! I have been fearful of the broiler, but this recipe helped me get more comfortable with it. I skipped the rice and served the veg over tricolor quinoa. All leftover cooked marinade ended up drizzled over the cooked dish for bonus flavor. It delish immediately and leftover for lunch. Thank you for the awesome recipe!
I only had 1/2 c rice available, but still did a full batch of the veggies. I used what I had on hand: onion, mushrooms, tomatoes, and carrots. I love your marinade recipe! It has already been added to my recipes. Thank you so much for sharing this.
This was easy and quick to make and it tasted SO good!! My husband hates mushrooms and he not only ate them… he loved them. After we ate dinner, I went to bed craving this even though I’d just had it. I’m keeping this recipe forever!
I added fresh pineapple to the vegetables for extra deliciousness! Also added a package of firm tofu, drained & pressed, cubed, into the marinade & broiled along with the vegetables. It turned out perfectly. I omitted the garlic in the rice, added some juice from the lemon to the marinade and to the rice and used quite a bit less oil in both. It still turned out good & is an easy recipe to make.
One of favorite recipes! We meal prep this recipe and triple it. The marinade is amazing and had me scraping it off of the pans. We have substitutes the brown sugar with agave and still get great results. Thanks for a great recipe that has shown me that the true worth of broiling!
Thanks for the note about the agave! I’m going to try it that way!
Do you think this would freeze okay after it has been broiled?
This will probably be so-so if frozen. The vegetables will likely get even a little more soft and watery after freezing/thawing. If you freeze it with the rice you may not notice it as much. The flavor of the rice, though, will change a bit once reheated because the parsley and lemon zest will no longer be super fresh, they’ll be slightly cooked.
Can we make with brown rice ? Same time ???
No, brown rice requires more time and more liquid. I would check the instructions on the package for time and liquid recommendations.
What a great idea, broiling instead of roasting- cut down on time, up the yummy char-factor! Balsamic marinades have never been my jam, but you better believe I’ll be using your harissa marinade (from harissa roasted veggies) to adapt this to my taste. Making a note to try this out next week!
Very, very good! I did half of the brown sugar and doubled the mustard. I love tang and don’t like anything too sweet – it was perfect for my taste buds and the veggies still carmalized well. The rice was equally awesome!
I was going to ask about halving or omitting the sugar. Thank you for posting!
I finally got around to trying this, and holy mackerel in a handbasket, this is amazingly tasty! You’re a goldmine for fantastically delicious (not to mention wallet-friendly and healthy) vegetarian recipes! Keep them coming, please!
I’ve made this recipe several times before, with only two minor changes: tofu added to the veggies (with extra marinade) and lemon juice in the rice because I love the tanginess. But I usually make the rice in my rice cooker, and it broke last week. So tonight I made this with couscous instead, and it is just as awesome.
I really like how easy this recipe is and how I can just eat a big bowl of veggies. The balsamic marinade is really flexible, too.
Winner! Followed ingredients exactly and it was absolutely delicious. I did decide to roast at 450 and cook chicken breasts at the same time. Used the brine method from gimmesomeoven website for chicken, which took 15 minutes and veggies about 20 minutes. Also, I noticed someone said their veg mix had too much liquid, so I discarded marinade before roasting.
Second night in a row you’ve saved me at dinner time. I’m a working mom and literally minute before leaving the office I peruse your recipes to see what ingredients I have.
I wasn’t expecting much of this recipe and I was MIND BLOWN on how unexpectedly delicious this was! My husband loved it too! I usually feel like I dont quite get the seasoning right and this was spot on! I was nervous about using my broiler cuz I thought the veggies wouldnt really cook, but perfect! THANK YOU.
My modifications (I didnt have all of the ingredients):
– Cilantro instead of parsley
– Zest of Lime and juice instead of lemon zest
– I forgot to add the garlic to the cooking rice so I added powdered garlic after it was cooked
I just want to say that this was my first foray into broiling and you couldn’t have made it easier! I was intimidated, but the whole recipe turned out great. And it was so easy! I made some adjustments based on what I had on hand, and it was still delicious. Also, I am easily the slowest chopper in the world and I still made this in about 45 minutes. Thank you!