Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepperto taste
The Veggie Salad
1red bell pepper
4smallzucchinicut in half lengthwise
4smallyellow squashcut in half lengthwise
2“baby” Japanese eggplantshalved lengthwise
4largeshiitake mushroom capschopped
2white onionssliced in ¼” or wider slices, rings left together
1pintcherry tomatoeswhole
½cupextra virgin olive oil
½teaspoongarlic powder
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepperto taste
½loafCrusty Italian or Ciabatta Breadsplit in half horizontally
1fresh Spinachlarge handful
Instructions
Make The Dressing*
Cut the large tomato into quarters and place them into a sieve. Sprinkle a little bit of salt of the quarters and let sit for about 5 minutes. Squeeze each piece of the tomato and press to extract as much tomato juice as you can (You may use the back of the spoon to press the tomato into the sieve to release more juice). Discard the sieve with tomato chunks and pulp. Pour the extracted juice into a jar with a lid. Add mustard, vinegar, oil, basil, salt, and pepper. Place the top back onto the jar and shake well. Set aside.
Grill The Salad
Heat a charcoal or gas grill to high.
Mix olive oil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper in a small bowl with a whisk. Whisk well.
Using a brush, brush the all of the vegetables with oil mixture on all sides. Brush the cut side of the bread with the oil mixture, also.
Place the red bell pepper, zucchini, squash, and eggplant on the grill, flesh-side down. Place the onion slices and the pepper on grill. Cover and cook until the cut vegetables are charred, about 4 minutes.
Flip the vegetables and cook, covered, until they are tender, another 2 to 3 minutes.
Remove the veggies from the grill. Cover the grill and continue cooking the pepper, turning occasionally, until it is charred all over and tender, about 10 more minutes should do it. When the pepper is done, place it in a bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let steam for 10 minutes.
Place the mushrooms on the grill and put the tomatoes in a grill basket (if you don’t have a grill basket stay tuned to tomorrow’s Kitchen Tip to find out what you can use instead). Grill, covered, shaking the basket occasionally, until charred and softened; about 5 minutes. Grill the bread, cut-side down, until golden and toasty, about 3 minutes. At this point, the mushrooms may be ready to take off. Their size will determine if more time is needed.
Flip the bread and grill for one more minute. Transfer to the cutting board with the vegetables.
Seed and chop the bell pepper; de-ring onions, chop zucchini, squash, eggplant, and bread into bite-size cubes. Slice mushrooms. Combine vegetables and bread in a large bowl, add in spinach, season with salt and pepper and toss.
Plate. Shake dressing well and drizzle over salad.
Notes
Dressing: Feel free to use any dressing you would like. David does not like the one I use (he's cray cray) for this recipe. He made a quick vinaigrette with red wine vinegar and oil.Recipe adapted from Bobby Flay
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