I like vegetables, but I don’t get excited when I think about them. It’s not that I don’t like them, they just don’t do it for me like a juicy steak or a big plate of pasta (preferably with seafood!). But grilled vegetables are another story! There’s just something magical about grilling over an open flame that makes everything taste a little better, and vegetables are no exception. That’s why I decided to give this Grilled Vegetable Salad a try. Well, that and the delicious goat cheese topping. Cheese also makes everything better, so grilling plus cheese must equal nirvana, right? I have a feeling there’s a grilled cheese pun in there, but I”m gonna leave it alone. I have a theory to test!
If you love grilled vegetables and want to elevate them a notch check out this grilled vegetable salad.
The Ingredients
With a short list of easy-to-find ingredients, shopping for this Grilled Vegetable Salad recipe was a snap. I had salt, pepper, and olive oil on hand. I also had red onions, so I threw one in. The recipe just says onion, so I assumed I had the option to select the type I prefer.
I hit up the produce section for most of the ingredients, the canned aisle for the pesto, and the deli for the goat cheese. The only thing I didn’t find was the avocado oil. They were out, but I had extra virgin olive oil in my pantry and used that instead since the recipe does say to use the cooking oil of your choice.
The Process
I started things off by preheating my grill. I knew the smaller mushrooms would fall through the grate, so I preheated my grill wok too. It saved the small vegetables from becoming charred crumbs in the ash pan.
A bit of chopping and slicing was next, but it wasn’t too bad. The instructions are nice and specific about how to cut everything up. It wasn’t specified, but I decided to stem the mushrooms. It’s a nice touch if you have the time since the stems can be tough.
The directions say to brush the vegetables with olive oil, but I opted for my trusty oil sprayer because it’s easier and more thorough. Then I flipped everything and repeated oiling and seasoning.
Now it was time to grill! I’m glad I have a large grill because it had just enough room for everything to grill at the same time. I had to add the onions to the grill wok, but that worked out perfectly. Some of them fell apart after I lifted them with my tongs, and the rings would have fallen through the grate.
The instructions say to grill for 7-8 minutes, flipping about halfway through. I usually like to start with the shortest time, but I went with 8 minutes. The mushrooms and red bell peppers were done after that, but the rest needed some extra time. I flipped them a second time and added 2 more minutes to the cooking time.
Once I brought everything back inside, I arranged the grilled vegetables on a 15-inch serving platter. I added dollops of pesto and soft goat cheese throughout.
I had this lovely Grilled Vegetable Salad ready in less than half an hour, even with the extra time on the grill. Here’s how it went:
- 18 minutes to prep (includes time to assemble)
- 10 minutes to cook
- 28 minutes total
