Barbecue season is upon us, or at least there is no longer snow on the ground. On of the few days it hasn’t been raining, I threw together this roasted vegetable salad. Getting the timing right on the roasting can be a little tricky – I started out with a lot more asparagus than I ended up with. Aside from that, the salad is quite simple and very delicious. You can use any number of good roasting vegetables in addition or instead of the ones I used including carrots, eggplant, fennel or squash.
Grilled Vegetable Salad
(adapted from Grill This Not That’s – Grilled Vegetable Salad)
- Salad Ingredients
- 3 peppers (different colors are pretty)
- 1 zucchini
- 1 yellow onion
- handful of asparagus (more if you are prone to burning things)
- olive oil
- Dressing Ingredients
- extra virgin olive oil
- garlic (I used garlic powder but if you like more of a bite a couple grated garlic cloves would work too)
- red wine vinegar (or sherry vinegar)
- coarse salt
- Snap the woody ends of the asparagus. Cut the onion in half across the middle. Cut the zucchini in half. Cover all the vegetables lightly in olive oil.
- Turn your grill on to medium heat and lay the vegetables on it.
- Your vegetables will be done in 5-20 minutes. My reference says that asparagus should be done in 10 minutes on high heat but most of it was burnt beyond saving after 5 so check to see if anything might need turning after a couple of minutes. After that check and turn your vegetables every 5 minutes. You want your vegetables to be tender but retain a little bite. Your peppers (or eggplant if you're using that) should be covered in char when they are done.
- Stick the peppers (and eggplant) in a plastic bag for 5 minutes and then peel off the skin.
- Slice all the vegetables into bite sized strips or chunks.
- Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic and salt.
Did They Eat It?
Gordie (4 year old): refused to try it.
Richard: Quite enjoyed that even though I had just finished a big bowl of ice cream.
Bronwen: Great. Well grilled – the vegetables retained their texture and flavor but were still very soft.
Anne: Delicious. Really really good. I like the flavor of barbecue vegetables. I even ate the onions even though I usually don’t.
Stephen: Really tasty.
Dana: I can’t wait to experiment with different kinds of vegetables. I will definitely be making this again.
What’s your favorite thing to grill on the barbecue? Do you like grill vegetables?
I love grilled corn because its a favorite back home in Nigeria. Unfortunately, it turns out too soft and sweet when I try to make it.
By the way, I think I’m going to use some of your salad ideas for my CSA veggies. First pickup tomorrow 🙂
I haven’t tried grilling corn yet – maybe I should! We’re getting CSA veggies this year too – I’m going to try to use some of the veggies that we get to make up my summer salads.