Grilled Vegetable Salad with Fresh Herb Vinaigrette Recipe
This is the ultimate summertime salad ! Grilled until precisely charred and smokey, then mixed with a bright and light homemade lemon basil vinaigrette. This chopped grilled veggie salad is simple to make but full of summer’s greatest fresh flavors. Ideal for healthy weeknight dinners and summer entertaining! Naturally vegetarian and gluten-free, as well as easily dairy-free and vegan.
Grilled Vegetable Salad with Fresh Herb Vinaigrette Recipe
While you can use this vinaigrette on any salad, there's something about the bright, delicious taste of grilled vegetables that makes it particularly delicious.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 10 medium carrots, quartered lengthwise
- 2 red bell peppers, halved and seeded
- 2 large leeks, ends trimmed
- 2 large zucchini
- 1 medium orange, juiced
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp sweet paprika
- ¼ cup sprigs flat-leaf parsley
- 1 jalapeno, seeded and halved
- 3 vinegar
- 1 tbsp dark brown sugar
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat a grill to medium-high.
- Drizzle the carrots on a baking sheet with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Sprinkle evenly with salt and use a small strainer to sprinkle evenly with the cumin. Arrange the bell pepper halves cut-side up next to the carrots, then drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil, sprinkle with salt and sift with paprika.
- Cut the outer layer off the leeks and trim and discard 2 inches off the top. Split the leeks lengthwise and rinse the dirt out from the inside layers. Wipe dry and keep them in intact halves. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
- Grill the vegetables (leeks and peppers zucchini cut-side down) in a single layer in a medium-hot area of the grill. Close the lid and cook until you see liquid emerge, 3 to 5 minutes. Turn everything on its second side, then close the lid and cook until the peppers are tender but still hold their shape, 5 to 8 more minutes.
- Move the peppers to a cooler or foiled area of the grill, then close the lid and let the carrots and leeks continue to cook until tender when pierced with the tip of a knife, an additional 5 to 8 minutes.
- Season the parsley in a bowl with 1 tablespoon olive oil and a pinch of salt. Place the parsley on a medium-hot part of the grill and cook until fairly charred, 10 to 12 minutes. Chop the parsley finely. Drizzle the jalapeno with 1 tablespoon olive oil and grill until charred, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove the jalapeno from the grill and coarsely chop.
- Combine vinegar, brown sugar and orange juice in a medium bowl until the sugar dissolves. Whisk in the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil, the mustard, parsley and jalapeno. Taste for seasoning.
- Place the leeks on a flat surface and cut each half into 3 even pieces. Cut the peppers in half again. Arrange the carrots, peppers and leeks on a serving platter and top with the dressing.
