Grilled Vegetable Platter
Grilled Vegetable Platter Chef Cathy Palvos taste great. From dinner recipes, budget menus and healthy diet selections, you’ll easily find any recipe you need.
Ingredients:
4-6 Italian, Thai or Chinese eggplants- medium-sized
2 Fennel bulbs – trimmed off tops and stalks (save tops for marinade)
2 Green bell peppers
2 Red bell peppers
2 Yellow bell peppers
2 Portobello mushrooms
1 Medium-sized zucchini
1 Medium-sized yellow squash (seasonal)
1 Bunch Green onions or leeks
1 Bunch Asparagus (in season)
4-6 Baby artichokes or small artichokes – outer leaves trimmed
4-6 Roma tomatoes
1 Head of radicchio
You can use all of these vegetables or any part; the whole idea is a composition of color, texture, shape, and flavor aim for variety.
Marinade
1 1/2 C Fresh herbs – finely chopped:
Parsley
Oregano
Fennel tops
Thyme
Basil
Mint
6 Garlic cloves – peeled and finely chopped
2C Olive oil
Sea salt
Pepper
Aioli
2 Cage free eggs – separated, use yolks and reserve whites
4 Garlic cloves – peeled and minced
1C Extra virgin olive oil
1t Lemon juice
1/2 t Cold water
Sea salt – to taste
Directions:
- Marinade
- Combine all of the marinade ingredients and let the oil sit at room temperature for approximately 2 hours. Left over marinade can be refrigerated and used within 2 weeks bring it back to room temperature to use.
- Veggies
- Wash all vegetables and pat dry.
- Blanch fennel and artichokes in boiling salted water for about 15 minutes, pat dry.
- Cut eggplants in half lengthwise. Sprinkle the pieces generously with salt and allow them to sit in a colander for an hour, (liquid beading may be seen on the surface). Rinse the eggplant to remove the salt, and then pat the eggplant dry with paper towels, (this ensures that the eggplant will be less bitter and absorb less oil during grilling).
- Slice squash on diagonal into 1/4" slices.
- Cut Roma tomatoes in half lengthwise.
- Cut the radicchio into wedges.
- Trim tough ends from asparagus about 2 inches off the bottom.
- Slice leeks in half or quarters.
- Remove stems from portobello mushrooms grill whole and slice later.
- After artichokes and fennel are blanched and cooled, cut artichokes in half; cut fennel into 1/2" slices.
- Grill or use grill pans on the stove top. Use a low to medium heat and grill in batches.
- Char all the peppers first. It takes about 15 minutes of moving them around the grill to get a nice uniform char; place them in a paper bag to steam while grilling the rest of the vegetables. Peppers taste best if they are peeled, (you are giving the skin time to steam away from the flesh to make it easier to peel).
- Lay out the cut or whole vegetables on sheet pan(s) and, using a grill or pastry brush, brush each side with the olive oil marinade, then dust with sea salt and pepper.
- Grill one or two different kinds of vegetables at a time. Try to turn them only once. Be patient. Once they are grilled with nice clean marks and slightly brown, put them on a clean sheet pan(s).
- After you are finished grilling the other vegetables, the peppers will be ready to peel. Just slip off the paper thin skins, discard the seeds and skins and cut the pepper into strips, toss with the marinade, salt and pepper.
- Arrange all of the vegetables creatively on a large platter and drizzle with remaining marinade. Serve with homemade aioli if you like.
- Note: Leftover grilled vegetables can be chopped and put into pastas or omelets, or left whole for salads and sandwiches the next day. (Absolutely delicious in a pasta with a little olive oil and parmesan or feta cheese).
- Aioli
- Using a processor, pulse minced garlic into egg yolks until smooth.
- Transfer mixture to a bowl, and begin whisking while adding the extra virgin olive oil one drop at a time.
- As the aioli becomes emulsified, add larger quantities of oil until the aioli is the consistency of mayonnaise; add the lemon juice, sea salt to taste and if it seems too thick, water.
- For added flavor, blend in ground cumin, basil pesto, sundried tomato paste, or chipotle chiles in adobo.
