Grilled vegetable salad
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.
Sauteeing the shallot to make the vinaigrette was a new wrinkle in vinaigrette making, at least for me. It really softens the flavors. Will try this with other garlic based vinaigrettes as well.
Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 2 zucchini — not those huge backyard things — slice lengthwise 1/2 inch thick
- 1 large red bell pepper — halved, seeded then flattened
- 1 large red onion, peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch thick rounds
- 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 15 oz can garbanzo beans, rinsed
- Olive oil for coating
- Small handful parsley, chopped. for garnish
- 2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
Vinaigrette:
- 1 small shallot, minced
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 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.
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 to cool when done.
- Remove the toothpicks (important). Slice the corn off the cob into a wide shallow salad bowl.
- Coarsely chop the veggies and add to the bowl.
- Toss in the cherry tomatoes and the garbanzo beans.
Vinaigrette:
- Saute the shallots in 1/2 the olive oil briefly in a small saute pan.
- Add the herbs and saute briefly. Remove from the heat.
- Stir in the sherry vinegar and then the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Dress the salad and top with parsley and feta cheese.
This is excellent served at room temperature.