This easy grilled veggie salad is a very simple, very tasty recipe to have in your repertoire. Start with a few basics: chopped garlic, chile, parsley, some sort of oil, and something with a tang factor (like vinegar or lemon juice). Then simply add whatever barbecued veggies you like.
In summer, I am partial to vine veggies – eggplant, tomatoes and beans. Get them all charred-up and tasty.–Ross Dobson
Easy Grilled Vegetable Salad FAQs
Sort of. Roma tomatoes are a type of plum tomato. They’re oval-shaped and smaller than most of their rounder cousins. Plums and romas also have fewer seeds, lower water content, and their flesh is meatier and chewier than other types of tomatoes, making them perfectly suited for cooking, canning, and for use in sauces.
Chop the veggies and lay them on top of a simple crust with goat cheese for a fantastic pizza. Toss the vegetables with pasta for a cold or hot pasta dish. Eat them over a salad, layer them onto sandwiches, or tuck them inside a crusty grilled cheese or panini.
The easiest way is to use a grill basket or grill tray designed specifically for grilling vegetables. Grill baskets also come with handles, making flipping easier, too.
Easy Grilled Vegetable Salad
Ingredients
For the dressing
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 large red chiles, such as Fresno, finely chopped
- 1 small handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
For the grilled vegetable salad
- 8 small Roma or plum tomatoes, halved lengthways
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 large eggplant, cut into 2-inch (5-cm) chunks
- 1 pound 2 ounces green beans
- 1 red onion, finely sliced
- 1 handful fresh dill, chopped
- 1 handful fresh basil leaves, chopped
- 1 handful chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Instructions
Make the dressing
- Combine the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and leave to infuse while you grill the vegetables.
Make the grilled vegetable salad
- Prepare a gas or charcoal grill or firepit for medium-high heat.
- Place the tomatoes in a large bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, season well with salt and pepper and toss gently. Arrange the tomatoes, cut side down, on the grill just until they develop grill marks, 2 to 3 minutes. Don’t overcook them.
- Turn the tomatoes and cook for 2 to 3 minutes more. Use tongs to transfer them to a large bowl.
- Add the eggplant to the same bowl you tossed the tomatoes in. Pour in another tablespoon of the olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Toss the eggplant to coat in oil.
- Grill the eggplant, turning often, until golden and tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Add to the bowl with the tomatoes.
- Finally, plunk the beans into the same large mixing bowl, add the remaining olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Toss the beans well and lay them carefully on the grill (don’t let them fall through the cracks). Grill, turning often, until nicely charred, 8 to 10 minutes. Use tongs to transfer them to the bowl of eggplant and tomatoes.
- Spoon some of the dressing over the warm veggies. Give a quick toss and season to taste.
- Stir in the red onion, dill, basil, and parsley. Add the remaining dressing and serve warm or at room temperature.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
A delicious twist on a vegetable salad to add to your summer grilling menus. The dressing really surprised me. I was concerned the red chiles were too spicy but they became less intense after melding with the rest of the ingredients.
I used about half of the dressing over the vegetables, to accommodate all taste buds in my family, and left the remainder on the table for everyone to add more to taste and also to use as a chimchurri type sauce over the grilled steaks I served with the salad.
I loved the tomatoes and green beans in this salad but I am not a huge fan of eggplant and would use zucchini in its place for a similar textured vegetable, but really any summer vegetable would work great in this salad complemented by your favorite herbs – dill and basil are wonderful but thyme, rosemary or whatever fresh herbs you have on hand.
The recipe is a great guide to make your own version of this grilled salad using all of your favorites from the local farmers market or backyard garden.
This easy grilled vegetable salad deserves a Tester’s Choice award for its wonderful flavor and adaptability. We loved the combination of summertime vegetables and herbs with the tasty dressing to top it off. With the exception of cutting everything in half for two servings, I followed the recipe exactly as written using the gas grill option.
We enjoyed this vegetable salad with grilled cheese sandwiches, and couldn’t resist mopping up the juicy dressing with a corner of the bread.
This easy grilled vegetable salad is a keeper. It was exactly what I had hoped it would be! Seasonal vegetables, grilled and lightly seasoned with seasonal herbs…what more could you want? The vegetables were distinct, with a nice texture, and the fresh herbs and vinaigrette brought everything together. I love this recipe for the flexibility of amounts and types of vegetables possible.
We enjoyed this very much. It may have tasted even better the next day! The first meal was as a side with a roasted pork shoulder. I enjoyed it for lunch, served at room temperature, with goat cheese crumbled over it and some good bread on the side. And we finished the last of it, gently nuked and tossed with penne rigate. I will definitely make this all summer long.
