A great way to switch up your regular salads is with this grilled vegetable salad. With an assortment of vegetables like long beans, sweet corn, zucchini, cauliflower, and Bambara beans grilled in an oven and tossed in a pistachio-basil pesto dressing, this will be your next go-to salad. You can enjoy this warm or cold, with or without meat.
Ingredients
- aubergine /eggplant - grilled, these have a lovely creamy texture.
- long beans - these are great in salads - make sure to not overcook.
- sweet corn - not only are these juicy but they also add a lovely pop of colour and sweetness to the salad.
- onions - what is a great salad without onions?
- pistachio - slightly toasted, these will form part of the dressing for the salad.
- olive oil - to drizzle on the vegetables as well as for the pesto dressing.
- zucchini - these cook quickly and are also great.
- garlic - roasted these add a lovely garlicky touch without overpowering.
- basil - another crucial component for the pesto dressing.
- cauliflower - as a lot of the vegetables turn soft when grilled, these are great for contrasting textures.
- yellow bell pepper - fragrant, sweet, and perfectly grilled for this salad.
- bambara beans - these are boiled and then slightly toasted in the pan and also add some texture and creaminess.
Instructions
Making a grilled salad is pretty simple - cut or slice your vegetables, lightly sprinkle some oil, salt and then grill.
Cut the augergines, onions and zucchini's into thick slices, the bell peppers into half. Leave the sweet corns whole.
Separate the florets from the cauliflower and take the tips off the long beans. Place them on a baking pan and add the unpeeled cloves as well.
Grill the vegetables until soft and they have some char on them.
Make sure the cauliflower florets still have a bite to them.
Chop up all the vegetables, and mix in a bowl.
Toast the pistachios in a pan.
Crush them and mix them with olive oil, garlic, basil, and salt to form a light pesto dressing for the salad.
Mix the pesto dressing with the chopped vegetables as well as the bambara beans and voila! This salad tastes even better after a day but just make sure to keep it refrigerated.
Substitutions & Variations
- Grilled broccoli - these happen to be a fantastic addition to any grilled salad.
- Cucumbers - if you want a hint of freshness, add sliced cucumbers. A tip - add them just before serving to prevent your salad from getting soggy.
- Toasted nuts - whether agushi or other nuts, they are a great addition.
- Outside grill - If you have a BBQ going, you can grill these outside on the grill. Vegetables like garlic or the long beans which could fall through the grate are better off roasting in a pan than on the grill.
- Green beans - are a great substitute for long beans.
- Salad dressings - you can also use your favourite dressing for this salad. Check out this honey-mustard or yoghurt dressing for more options.
- Chickpeas - these make a great substitute for Bambara beans. You can roast them or just cook them for the salad.
Tips
- Always start with clean vegetables. Rinse and pat your vegetables dry before doing anything else. For the cauliflower, soak the entire head in some salty water to make sure to get rid of anything stuck between the florets. For the zucchinis and aubergines, a rinse under water and patting them dry should suffice. There is no need to rinse the sweet corn or the unpeeled garlic cloves.
- Taste, taste, taste! As you mix the chopped vegetables and mix with the dressing, make sure to taste as you go. A bit go black pepper and salt makes a huge difference.
- Grilled veggies are great on their own but also fantastic with meat or chicken. Some recipes you'll love are these grilled chicken drumsticks, these pan-fried pork chops and charcoal grilled spatchcock chicken.
FAQ
Once the vegetables are almost cooked, place them on a hot baking tray or hot grate - the contact will give the vegetables some much-needed colour and char.
Yes you can! However before serving, make sure to let the salad come to room temperature especially if you are using an oil based salad dressing so the oil has time to turn liquid (that is if it solidifies in the fridge).
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Grilled Vegetable Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 medium cauliflower
- 2 small aubergine/eggplant
- 3 small zucchini
- 1 handful long beans
- 6 cloves garlic
- 2 ears sweet corn
- 1 medium purple onion
- 2 medium yellow bell peppers
- salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- a handful pistachio nuts
- 4 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil
- fresh basil see note 1
- cooked bambara beans optional
Instructions
- Cut the aubergines, zucchinis, and onion into thick slices.
- Cut the bell peppers into half and along with the sweet corn and the unpeeled garlic cloves.
- Sprinkle lightly with oil and salt. Place the vegetables on an oiled grill or an oven safe tray or pan. See note 2.
- Separate the cauliflower into florets and place in an oven proof tray along with the garlic and the long beans.
- Place the tray into the oven along with the grill with vegetables and grill over medium heat (about 220℃/428℉) until the vegetables are soft. The veggies should not be mushy and the cauliflower should still have a bite to it. See note 3.
- Grill until the vegetables are soft but not mushy. The cauliflower and the long beans should still have a bite to them.
- Leave the vegetables to cool.
- Toast the pistachios in a pan and leave to cool. Then using a coffee grinder or processor, blitz the nuts.
- In a mortar or a processor grind the basil with the pistachios and the roasted garlic (remove the peel), adding salt and oil in bits until a somewhat uniform but not completely smooth paste is formed.
- Remove the kernels from the sweet corn by running a knife close to the cob through from top to bottom.
- Chop the rest of the vegetables, add the pesto dressing, and mix well making sure to adjust for salt and black pepper.
- Serve at room temperature.
Notes
- Start with a fistful of fresh basil and if necessary add some more. Different types of basil have different potencies and as such I recommend eyeballing the amount for this dressing. To make it easier, pack some fresh herbs into a deep set tablespoons and use two of those to begin with.
- The contact area for a pan is larger than that of a grill and therefore you will need to watch out for that. A grill will leave beautiful grill marks and a pan will give a quicker char.
- The vegetables will all have different cook times, the bell peppers will be done first, followed by the zucchinis and the aubergines and then the onions. The cauliflower will take the longest. Make sure to check them as you go and then remove from heat accordingly.
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