Grilled vegetable salad
Chop charred veggies and toss with a sherry and shallot vinaigrette for an easy side dish that is both bright and light.
This salad is particularly easy if you have the grill fired up for anything else. I found the recipe in the San Francisco Chronicle food section and have made it several times using different veggies and amounts. It's all good.
Sautéing the shallot to make the vinaigrette was an innovation in vinaigrette making, at least for me. It really softens the flavors. I'll try this with garlic-based vinaigrettes as well.
Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 1 large red onion, peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch thick rounds
- 2 zucchini, sliced lengthwise 1/2 inch thick
- 1 large red bell pepper, halved, seeded, and flattened
- 1 ear of corn
- Olive oil for coating
- 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 small shallot, minced
- 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano or 1 tablespoon fresh
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 tablespoon fresh
- 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Small handful parsley, chopped
- 2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
Directions
- Preheat the grill to high.
- Stick toothpicks at least halfway into the onion rounds to keep them together. Skewers work too.
- Coat the zucchini, red onion, corn, and bell pepper lightly with olive oil. Grill the veggies until they start to brown and are crisp-tender. I overcooked some and it totally didn’t matter.
- Turn the corn to grill on all sides. Set aside all of the veggies to cool when done.
- Slice the corn off the cob into a wide shallow salad bowl.
- Remove the toothpicks from the onion rounds. Coarsely chop the onions and other grilled veggies and add to the bowl.
- Toss in the cherry tomatoes and the garbanzo beans. Then make the vinaigrette.
- In a small pan, briefly sauté the shallots in 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil.
- Add the herbs and sauté briefly. Remove from the heat.
- Stir in the sherry vinegar and the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Dress the salad and top it with chopped parsley and feta cheese. This is excellent served at room temperature.
Nutrition information (per serving)
- Calories: 190
- Total fat: 10 g
- Saturated fat: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
- Sodium: 260 mg
- Total carbohydrate: 21 g
- Dietary fiber: 4 g
- Total sugars: 4 g
- Protein: 6 g
Includes 1/2 teaspoon added salt