Grill Your Salad

2010 July 15

tags: bbq, Bell pepper, grill, recipe, Salad, sidedish, Vegetable

by BusyMOM

Grill Your Salad
Tired of the same ol’ salad? Try grilling it! One of the best things about the summertime for me is using our BBQ. Not that grilling food is limited to the summer, but with this season comes fresh everything.

And the combination of fresh vegetables and a seasoned BBQ equals an absolutely delicious Grilled Vegetable Salad! Seriously! I am now a believer that you can grill anything and it will taste amazing.

A couple of days ago, I wrote about having my gal buddies over for our monthly get together. I tried this grill-your-salad recipe on them and got the big thumbs up. Try it! You’ll like it!

Grilled Vegetable Salad

What you’ll need:
- 1/2 lb. spring onions or leeks (instead, I used red onion chunks)
- 1/2 lb. small carrots or corn
- 1/2 lb. zucchini (I used summer squash too)
- 1/2 lb. Japanese eggplant (I used Chinese eggplant)
- 2 sweet red bell peppers (or any color)
- 1/2 lb. fennel (half? forget that, I used a whole bulb)
- 4 large tomatoes, seeded
- 1 c. olive oil (too much, in my opinion – see below)
- 1 tbsps. garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tsp. ground cumin
- 1/2 c. balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 c. coarsely chopped fresh herbs, including basil, oregano, parsley, and thyme (any fresh herbs work)

What to do:
Cut up the onions, carrots, zucchini, and eggplant in half lengthwise. Then, cut the bell pepper in half and remove seeds. Next, cut the fennel in 1/2 -inch thick slices. Mix all the vegetables with salt, pepper, and 1/2 c. olive oil.

Place on hot barbecue and grill until tender and brown (some vegetables may take longer than others). Remove from the grill, cool, and cut everything into 1-inch pieces.

Cut the tomatoes into 1/2-inch cubes and add them to the vegetables. Mix the vegetables with garlic, freshly chopped herbs, cumin, and the remaining olive oil, and balsamic vinegar.

All-Clad LTD 12-Inch Round Nonstick Grille Pan - this is the one I use.

Notes: I never follow a recipe exactly. My Dad was a gourmet cook my whole life growing up and even though at the time I thought cooking was “boring”, he did instill in me the idea that recipes are merely guides for the creative cook. If one ingredient sounds better than another, then, go for it.

For example: I’m sure this recipe tastes great with leeks or spring onions. But, I had a plethora of red onions. So guess what? Not only do the red onions make the salad pretty, but their hearty flavoring is great when BBQ-ed. Also, I didn’t use an ENTIRE cup of oil. That is way too much. In fact, I just barely coated the veggies before grilling them and then added not even 1/4 cup of olive oil along with the Balsamic vinegar. That’s all you need.

One last thing… don’t have a BBQ or if you like me, you’re scared of the beast? Get yourself a Grill Pan. What one can do on the BBQ, one can do on a grill pan. I am in love with mine.

Enjoy!

Thanks to RecipeGirl.com for the gorgeous photo!