by: Kate McMillan
Cook Time
15 minutes
Prep Time
15 minutes
Yield
6 servings
Total Time
15 minutes
Prep Time
15 minutes
Yield
6 servings
summary
The surest way to have a great dish is to use what is in season. So during the summer months, when your grill is on, simply throw a bunch of seasonal vegetables on for the perfect side dish. This method grills the vegetables before tossing them in a delicious dressing. The warm vegetables absorb more dressing, resulting in a more flavorful dish. Za’atar is a wonderfully tasty Middle Easter spice blend.
ingredients
- Grilled Vegetable
- 1 eggplant
- 1 red pepper
- 1 bunch asparagus
- 1 yellow squash
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup fresh basil, chopped
- Dressing
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice (2–3 small lemons)
- 1 teaspoon za’atar
directions
- Set grill to high.
- In a small mixing bowl, stir together the Dijon mustard, shallots, lemon juice, za’atar, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Whisk in 5 tablespoons of olive oil. Set aside.
- Slice the eggplant into ½-inch pieces. Cut the pepper into quarters and then seed and core them. Trim the woody ends from the asparagus. Cut the squash, on the bias, into ½-inch slices. Add the eggplant to a mixing bowl, drizzle lightly with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to the grill and cook until charred, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer back to the mixing bowl and toss with a couple tablespoons of the dressing. Place on a serving tray and set aside.
- Repeat this process for each of the vegetables with the following grilling times: 2 minutes per side for peppers, 3 minutes for asparagus and 2 minutes per side for squash.
- Serve warm or at room temperature with basil sprinkled on top.
notes
A hot grill is essential to getting a nice char on the vegetables, which helps infuse more flavor from the dressing.
Serve over couscous or quinoa for a beautiful main dish.
You don’t have to grill vegetables individually, but it makes a nice presentation to plate them divided by their colors.
Drizzle any leftover dressing on the plated vegetables just before serving.
