I adore the flexibility of this Grilled Vegetable Salad. It allows you to take full advantage of the best seasonal produce available at the time. In winter, I enjoy sweet roasted parsnips, caramelised pumpkin and cavolo nero; in spring, asparagus, crisp beans and fennel. During summer, I favour zucchini, capsicums and eggplants when they’re in season. I often use the BBQ to grill the vegetables, while standing in the evening light.
The dressing is easily adapted to which ever herbs are flourishing in your garden, I often use fresh parsley, or coriander.
This is a beautiful salad for BBQ’s with friends as it does transport well. I relish it on it’s own, with a little grilled haloumi or crumbled feta on top for a light vegetarian dinner.
Ingredients
- Grilled Vegetable Salad:
- 2 capsicums, seeded and roughly chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and cut into sticks
- 1 red onion, roughly chopped
- 200gm green beans, ends trimmed
- 100gm of snow peas
- 200gm cherry tomatoes, quartered
- Dressing:
- 2 handfuls of basil leaves, stalks picked
- 2/3 cup of olive oil
- Lemon juice or cider vinegar to taste
Instructions
Toss the capsicums, carrots and onion together with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and grill in the oven until lightly charred. Slice the tomatoes into halves, or quarters if they’re plump. Blanch the trimmed beans and snow peas in hot, slightly salted water, for one minute. Then drain and refresh until cold water.
Toss everything together in a bowl and then make the dressing.
Feel free to use the fresh herbs you have on hand, I had a beautiful basil plant on my bench. Put the herbs into a mortar and pestle, and bash with a little olive oil until smooth and pulpy. Add a squeeze of lemon or cider vinegar to taste. If you feel the dressing is too pulpy, add more olive oil and keep combining with the herbs until the dressing is the thickness you desire.
Toss all the vegetables in the dressing until each one is lightly coated. Leave aside at room temperature for the flavours to develop.
Notes
The dressing requires a little manual labour, but the taste will change if it's made in a food processor. The blades break up the herb leaves and can make the dressing taste bitter.
