RECIPE

© Reed Davis

Adler & Fertig's Knife and Fork Grilled Vegetable Salad

• Recipe by Karen Adler and Judith M. Fertig

• Staff Favorite

Ingredients

1. 1 garlic clove, halved
2. Kosher salt
3. 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
4. 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
5. 1/4 cup pine nuts
6. 1 large onion, sliced 1/2 inch thick
7. 2 small eggplants, sliced crosswise 1/2 inch thick
8. Two 6-ounce zucchini, sliced crosswise 1/2 inch thick
9. Two 6-ounce yellow squash, sliced crosswise 1/2 inch thick
10. Freshly ground pepper
11. 1 red bell pepper
12. 1 yellow bell pepper
13. 1 large head romaine lettuce (1 1/4 pounds), quartered lengthwise
14. 1/4 pound fresh goat cheese, crumbled (1 cup)

Directions

1. Light a grill. In a mortar, pound the halved garlic to a paste with 1 teaspoon of salt. Stir in 3 tablespoons of the olive oil and the lemon juice.
2. In a small skillet, cook the pine nuts over moderate heat until toasted, about 3 minutes.
3. Thread the onion slices onto two parallel 10-inch skewers. Put the eggplant, zucchini and yellow squash slices on 2 large rimmed baking sheets; brush both sides with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Brush the bell peppers and lettuce with olive oil. Grill the vegetables over a medium hot fire, turning occasionally, until lightly charred and just tender. The onions will take about 5 minutes per side; the eggplant, zucchini and squash, about 3 minutes per side; the peppers, about 3 minutes on each of 4 sides; the lettuce wedges, about 1 minute per side. Scrape the charred skin from the peppers, discard the stems and seeds and cut into strips.
4. Put a lettuce wedge on each plate. Mound the vegetables on the lettuce and sprinkle with the cheese and toasted pine nuts. Pass the lemon vinaigrette at the table.

Notes

Steam helps loosen a pepper’s charred skin from its flesh. To create steam, place the hot pepper in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, or place in it a plastic bag and seal, then let sit for 5 minutes and remove. The skin should slip right off.