Grilled Summer Vegetable Salad

It's July, finally! And it comes with all sorts of fun around here: my garden started to yield first vegetables from the patch, raspberries and blueberries a plenty, crafts in open air, sun, summer rain, and star speckled skies during a backyard campout. A lot to occupy yourself, so why bother with cooking? Especially when there are a lot of fresh produce on the market. Farmers and gardeners with a gentle help of mother nature have invested a lot of labour into each vegetable you by this month from the market. Why work any further?

Yes, I am proposing a vegetable-eating month. And, when possible, raw eating. It might sound hard, but with few knife techniques and a bit of grill heat (plus a great deal of will power), we can indulge in fresh and vitamin packed dishes.

I'll start with grilled vegetable salad. This one is my all time favorite. You can use any seasonal vegetables you have available. Mix and match- mix the vegetables and match the grilling time. Dress the final dish with a drizzle of olive oil and some salt and pepper to taste and viola!

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Grilled Vegetable Salad

Serves 4 if main dish, 6 if as a side dish

2 medium zucchini, cut in half longwise

1 red bell pepper, seeded and sectioned

1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and sectioned

1 large onion, cut in half longwise

2 T spoons vegetable oil

1 dried red chili pepper, crushed

Salt+Pepper to taste

Preheat grill to medium heat

Grill the vegetables, 5 minutes each side

Let cool slightly, enough for you to be able to cut them

Cut grilled vegetables into chunks, arrange in a serving bowl

Drizzle with oil and season

Of course if vegetables alone is not enough for you, you can toss in some pasta, rice or even grilled meat or chicken, cut into strips. I will try to eat meatless this month. We'll see how it goes…