Here’s a fresh and healthy side dish to serve along anything you’re about to throw on your grill this weekend. It’s a combination of grilled veggies and a salad all in one! I actually recreated this from a salad I had at a restaurant recently.
It couldn’t be easier to make, just grill up your favorite veggies, go for a variety of colors, the more color the better, it adds to a pretty presentation. I even used some mini eggplant I found called Indian eggplant, which I thought gave it a nice visual and something different.
All the vegetables can be grilled ahead of time and set aside until you’re ready to plate everything together.
Crisp romaine lettuce is dressed with a rich, slightly sweet aged balsamic vinaigrette. I also added sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts and creamy avocado into the mix.
Feel free to crumble some creamy goat cheese or feta on top with a sprinkling of pine nuts for more bling!
This is great for entertaining with ease and the presentation is gorgeous sitting on your platter!
- red, yellow and orange bell peppers
- eggplant
- zucchini
- yellow squash
- asparagus
- artichoke hearts, grilled or canned, drained of any liquid
- sun dried tomatoes ( soft and tender)
- sliced avocado
- crumbled feta or goat cheese and pine nuts, (optional)
- FOR BALSAMIC VINAIGRETTE
- ¼ cup of a good aged balsamic vinegar
- 1 cup, extra virgin olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, minced finely
- ¾ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- salt and pepper
- Prepare and slice all your veggies, place in a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Grill them all ahead of time until tender with nice grill marks, set aside.
- Whisk all your balsamic vinaigrette ingredients together until well incorporated.
- Right before you're ready to eat place chopped romaine, sun dried tomatoes into a bowl and dress with the vinaigrette, place onto your platter.
- Take the same bowl, toss in all your grilled veggies and carefully drizzle balsamic vinaigrette all over them, not too much, a little goes a long way, taste to your liking.
- Carefully arrange the veggies on top of the lettuce mixture with slices of avocado all around the perimeter.
- Add cheese and nuts if so desired.
If you’re having a BBQ then your going to need some side dishes, here’s a few that I’ve been making lately. When I make a salad I don’t fuss about exact measurements, I just grab a bowl or a platter, the size of which is always determined on how many people I’m feeding, then I just start cutting and tossing in all my favorite ingredients. If you love artichokes like me then add more, if you’re not crazy about onions, don’t add any. If I’m adding chickpeas I might want to start with a handful at first adding more as I go. That’s how I make a salad, so for these four salads I’m featuring I’m giving you the combination of ingredients I used but not the exact amounts, you can be the judge according to your tastes!
ZUCCHINI RIBBON SALAD with ASPARAGUS and CORN. Everything here is raw except for the grilled corn, After you dress it let it sit for an hour so all the flavors meld together. It includes yellow squash and zucchini ribbons, ( 
GRILLED RED POTATO SALAD. This is a tasty side for steaks, ribs, pork and chicken. Pre-grill some red potato slices by cutting the top and bottom off of the potatoes then cutting into planks, toss in olive oil and place on your grill until tender. Grilled red, yellow and orange peppers, chopped bite size, Nicoise olives, sliced grape tomatoes, chopped green onion and fresh parsley. Vinaigrette dressing.
I get asked many times how I make my Vinaigrette so here it is, 3 parts good olive oil to 1 part wine vinegar, a splash of balsamic, 1 smashed garlic clove, a dollop of dijon mustard, 1 teaspoon of oregano, 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, ground pepper to taste. Whisk everything together. I always have a jar sitting in my fridge at all times! 
Grilled Veggie Quinoa Salad. A great healthy lunch as well as a side. For this I used a tricolored quinoa that I precooked according to the package then I just added assorted and chopped grilled veggies, yellow squash, zucchini, onion, eggplant, red, yellow and orange peppers, chopped basil and lemon zest. Lemon slices for garnish. Lemon and olive oil dressing.
This is such a great lunch or even a light dinner. You could use leftover veggies either roasted or grilled and all you’ll need is a box of phyllo, a little bit of cheese and some muffin tins. Crunchy on the outside with cheesy flavorful veggies on the inside.
I always have roasted veggies in my fridge and now that the weather is staying warm I’ll be stocking up on grilled instead. Any combination will do, use whatever you like, you’ll only be using 1/2 cup per muffin.
In the past I was always afraid to use phyllo dough, but now I never go without a box in my fridge and use it for both sweet and savory dishes. I love to work with it because it’s so forgiving. My kind of dough!
I also like the free form look of the finished product, no matter how you fold the phyllo up over the veggies it always looks pretty in the end. Serve with a nice salad and some roasted red pepper sauce on the side, so good!
I’m Marie, a wife, mother, mother-in-law, and gramma of two beautiful girls. My passion is food, clear and simple but especially Italian food, hence the name of my blog, Proud Italian Cook. I want you to feel right at home here so grab a cup of coffee, I’ll get the pastries, take a look around and enjoy your visit! {
