BBQ vegetable salad with creamy feta dressing and olive salsa
Summer nights call for fresh vegetables chargrilled on the BBQ to smokey deliciousness!
Ingredients
Chargrilled vegetables
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2-3 teaspoons rosemary finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 large eggplant cut into 1cm-thick rounds
- 2 courgettes cut into 1cm-thick strips lengthways
- 1 large red capsicum cut into 3cm-thick pieces
- 1 large red onion cut into 2cm-thick wedges
Feta dressing
- 70 g cows feta at room temperature
- ½ cup natural unsweetened yoghurt
- 1 clove garlic (small) minced
- lemon juice of ½
- ½ cup mint finely chopped
- 1-2 tablespoons dill finely chopped
Salsa
- ¼ cup black kalamata olives chopped
- 1 tomato de-seeded, diced
- ¼ cup flat-leaf parlsey chopped
- ¼ cup dried figs or dates chopped, optional
- extra virgin olive oil drizzle
Instructions
- Preheat BBQ grill on medium heat.
- Mix olive oil, garlic, rosemary and balsamic vinegar together, and season well with salt and pepper. Brush mixture on vegetables and cook vegetables on preheated BBQ grill, basting frequently, until vegetables are soft and a little charred on the outside (this will be about 5 minutes on each side for the eggplant and capsicum, and about 2-3 minutes for the courgette and onion).
- Mash feta with a fork until there are hardly any lumps, then whisk in natural yoghurt, garlic, lemon juice, mint and dill. Set aside.
- Mix all olive salsa ingredients together and dress with a good drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.
- To serve, arrange warm chargrilled vegetables on a platter, dollop or drizzle over feta dressing, and scatter over salsa.
Notes
This Mediterranean vegetable salad really makes the most of delicious summer vegetables like eggplant, zucchini, capsicum and tomato. It is the perfect accompaniment to some beautiful chargrilled meat- think steak or chicken with perhaps a herby marinade such as this chermoula. The feta dressing is delicious with most salads, and really compliments the sharp salty olive salsa. If you don’t want to use a BBQ, you could cook the veggies under the grill inside. I especially love bringing this dish to a potluck – it always goes down a treat, and doesn’t necessarily need to be eaten warm like the recipe suggests!