Grilled Vegetable Salad
“Flavour is, among other things, a repository of feeling and memory: just as a smell is said to be the most redolent sense, so the flavour of a certain dish can transport us back instantaneously to the time and place we first experienced it, or experienced it most memorably” - Niki Segnit, The Flavour Thesaurus
Grilled Vegetable Salad is one of those dishes that transports me instantaneously. At the first hint of charred asparagus I am reminded of the first time I tried the Grilled Vegetable Chopped Salad at the Ivy in LA, and all of a sudden I am a Californian teenager again sitting on the patio overlooking Robertson Boulevard. From there the salad memories float from picnic to BBQ to lazy summer evenings on the deck of my old house. There are numerous variations on the grilled vegetable salad that could be written about, but I thought I would share with you one I made at the first sign of sunshine.
Ingredients:
1 zucchini, sliced into ribbons and then cut in pieces
1 eggplant, sliced the same as the zucchini
1 handful of cherry tomatoes
1 jar of organic artichoke hearts
1 handful of asparagus, chopped
1 red onion, sliced into rings and then halved
1 handful of pine nuts
1 handful of flaked Parmesan cheese
arugula
extra virgin olive oil
balsamic vinegar
Maldon sea salt
fresh black pepper
Directions:
In a large mixing bowl combine all the veggies with two tablespoons of olive oil, 2 splashes of balsamic and a pinch of sea salt. Let marinate for a good 15 minutes so that the vegetables are equally coated and then spread across grill pan on high heat. Grill until all vegetables are cooked through and slightly charred (to your own taste). Turn off the heat and as the pan cools toast the pine nuts. Top a bed of arugula with the grilled veggies, sprinkle with the pine nuts and the Parmesan. Add a pinch of salt and a few cracks of pepper, and any extra dressing that you may want (I found it didn’t need any) and enjoy!!
