Recipe: Simple Summer Side Dish - Chopped Grilled Veggies

I recently shared a vegan pesto recipe which was perfect spooned over gluten free pasta. Adding these chopped grilled veggies made it even better. It’s a super simple summer side dish and when mixed with the pasta makes a bright and healthy vegetarian main course. I also like this dish because it uses up any veggies you might have hanging out in the fridge. You can also chop the veggies ahead of time and keep them in the fridge if you are into meal prep. And, you can even chop, marinate, go for a run, then grill. Which is what I do!

To start: chop all the veggies into about a 1-1.5 inch dice.

Here are the veggies I found work well together:

-bell peppers (red, green, yellow, or orange)

-red onions (not too many but enough to get some of that nice caramalized flavor)

-mushrooms (I used white mushrooms and baby portobellos both of which needed to get out of the fridge!)

-eggplant

-broccoli

-yellow squash

You can add or remove any veggies, but this is what I used and I found the combo to be really nice.

Place chopped veggies in a large bowl.

Pour on a few glugs of olive oil. (not too much but enough to coat).

Drizzle with balsamic vinegar (again no too much).

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Toss to coat.

Let the veggies sit on the counter for an hour or so the oil and vinegar soak in. I hesitate to say marinate, because there is not much excess liquid, if any. It should all be soaked into veggies.

Place veggies an oiled grill basket.

Grill veggies in the basket on a hot grill until they are done (about 5-7). Stir / flip the veggies every 1-2 minutes. Veggies should be a bit charred and still crispy.

Place on a serving tray and squeeze a lemon over the veggies and add a little more salt and pepper to taste.

Serve on top of the vegan pesto pasta or a side dish at your next bbq!