Weekly Dish

In warmer weather, I have been known to let my husband spend more time standing over the grill than I spend over the stove. I love the smoky flavor a charcoal fire imparts to meat, but I haven’t been very adventurous in my grilling of vegetables.

Last time we grilled chicken, I decided to give veggies a try. I marinated an eggplant and three portabellos in a basalmic-honey mixture, grilled them until tender, and cubed them when they were cool enough to handle. For a quick and easy side dish, I tossed the chopped vegetables with some cubes of fresh mozzarella and a basalmic vinaigrette. I loved the combination of the smoky grilled mushrooms and eggplant and the sweet-tartness of the dressing. Later, David admitted his skepticism (he’s not the world’s biggest fan of eggplant), but said he’d been pleasantly surprised by the end result.

I can imagine all sorts of additions that would make this grilled salad even better: red bell pepper, slivers of red onion, artichoke, asparagus. This version was even better the next day; I think it will serve us in the future as picnic fare or a simple make-ahead side dish.

Grilled Eggplant and Portabello Salad

1 small eggplant, quartered
3 large portabello mushrooms, halved
For the marinade:
1/2 cup basalmic vinegar
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup honey

For the dressing:
3 T. balsalmic vinegar
3 T. olive oil
2 T. honey
1/2 t. Kosher salt

1/4 pound fresh mozzarella, cubed

Mix up the marinade in a large baking dish. Add the vegetables, cut side of the vegetables down, cover, and refrigerate for at least a few hours. Turn and stir at least once, to make sure the veggies are soaking up the vinegary juices.

Grill the eggplant and mushrooms until charred and tender, over a medium-low flame, this took us about 20 minutes for the mushrooms about 40 for the eggplant. You can also cut the vegetables into smaller pieces if you like, which will help them to become tender quicker (before the outside is completely black).

Allow them to cool completely. Meanwhile, mix up the dressing in a small bowl: whisk together the honey and vinegar, and then incorporate the oil a drop at a time, whisking vigorously until the dressing emulsifies (thickens and doesn’t separate). Stir in the salt.
When the vegetables are cool, chop them into cubes and toss them with the mozzarella cubes and the dressing. Serves 4-6 as a side.

This veggie recipe is my contribution to ARF/5-a-day Tuesdays over at Sweetnicks. For more great good-for-you recipes, visit her site.

Posted: Tuesday, April 25th, 2006 at 3:43 pm Filed under: On the Side, Salad, Vegetables. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.