Tons of produce are coming in from gardens along with farmer’s markets and why not grill some up for a great appetizer served with crostini, a side salad or serve over cooked couscous or pasta for a fantastic vegetarian meal. Trust me you won’t miss your protein, but if want to round it out with grilled meat feel free to do so.
Grilling vegetables is a fantastic way of creating great flavor with simple vegetables, such as, zucchini and yellow squash. The sweetness of the sun dried tomatoes and roasted red peppers were perfect. During the preparation quite a few veggies were missing from the platter, because I kept snitching one here and there as I cooked them up and then began to plate – so beware they are addictive! I chose to use the oven to roast my peppers and make the sun dried tomatoes, but you can put them on the grill instead. Also you can use the vegetables of your choice and change the amounts of the veggies to your liking – mix it up your way and enjoy! Please note that the sun-dried tomatoes will take about 2 hours.
Ingredients
3 Roma tomatoes or tomato of your choice (Please note that this requires 2 hours in the oven.)
1 red bell pepper roasted, skin removed and cut into pieces
2 yellow crook necked squash cut into 1/4″ to 1/2†slices
1 zucchini cut into 1/4″ to 1/2†slices
1 eggplant top cut off, peel (if desired) and cut into 1/4″ to 1/2†slices
1 red onion, peeled and cut into 1/4″ to 1/2†slices
Olive oil to coat vegetables
Kosher salt to coat vegetables
Fresh ground pepper to coat vegetables
Fresh grated parmesan cheese
Technique
All of the ingredient can be timed to come out at about the same time with some planning, make the sun dried tomatoes first, then roasted peppers and grill the vegetables. Some will be warmer than others and that is just fine, it will taste great!
Prepare sun dried tomatoes by cutting tomatoes into wedges, place into large bowl and toss with oil, salt and pepper. Pour all contents onto a cookie sheet and place into a preheated oven at 250 degrees for about 2 hours or until semi wilted and slightly browned on the edges.
Roast the red bell pepper by cutting the pepper into thirds and remove seeds and some of the pulp from the inside of the pepper. Flatten pepper as much as possible. Place on a cookie sheet lined with foil or coated with non-stick cooking spray. Broil on high for about 15 minutes or until mostly blackened. Check frequently. Allow to cool. No need to place in a bag. Once cooled remove skin with your fingers and chop. Do not rinse under water. Some black is okay, it just adds to the flavor.
Prepare the remaining ingredients by slicing the vegetables into 1/4″ to 1/2†slices. Peel the eggplant if desired but the red onion will need to be peeled. Coat all of the vegetables with olive oil, salt and pepper. Prepare a grill to medium high heat and add vegetables. Smaller vegetables and onions will need to be in a grill pan so they don’t fall thru grill. The onions and eggplant will take about 5 minutes per side and the zucchini and squash will take about 3 minutes per side. Cooking times will vary depending on how thick the slices are and your grill. They should be soft when pierced. Remove from grill and add all vegetables to a large platter or baking dish and garnish with fresh grated parmesan cheese.
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