Wow, it has been a long couple weeks! Sorry for my absenteeism, but I’ve started work on my second book, and it’s also been so hot out that I can hardly function. My brain’s just been kind of…pfffthbbbbttt… But I knew I wanted to grill something for this post, and Publix has several produce items on sale right now that combine to make this awesome grilled vegetable salad we’re making today.
Now some of you may not be into firing up the grill just to make a salad, so feel free to throw a couple steaks on, as well (I definitely did). But I know lots of gluten-free people have other dietary needs, so today we’re doing something vegan in addition to being gluten-free.
As always, proper preparation is essential to getting the most out of your dish. I use the time that my coal is getting hot to slice, dice, whisk, shred, grate, squeeze, and scoop. Mis-en-place is essential to ensuring your ingredients come together all at once to meld into a beautiful medley of deliciousness. Now if you already know how to prep vegetables for the grill and how to chop them for a salad, you can probably skim over most of the video. If vegetables and their preparation are a new concept for you, though, I go over the techniques to prepare all these amazing vegetables from A to Z in my video, so definitely check it out if you need some demonstration.
Without further ado, let’s get into making this salad.
Ingredients:
Dressing-
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. minced garlic
Zest of two limes
Juice of two limes
10 sprigs of cilantro, plucked
Salt
Salad-
3-4 ears of sweet corn
~1lb. fresh asparagus
1 large sweet onion
Tomatoes
1-2 jalapeños
1 avocado
Directions:
- Start coal with chimney starter if using a coal grill. Cardboard works well for starter fuel.
- While coal lights, begin composing dressing by setting sauté pan over medium-low heat (3.5/10) and add oil and garlic. Warm until garlic browns slightly and becomes fragrant. Remove from heat before garlic burns and pour into glass bowl. Set aside to cool completely.
- Prepare vegetables for grilling while dressing base cools. Shuck corn by removing husk leaves and breaking off stalk, and rubbing outside of cobs under water with fingers to remove threads. Set aside. Break woody stems off ends of asparagus and set aside. Cut onion in half, remove wrapper and outermost layer, and quarter each half to get eight wedges of onion. Set aside. Halve the tomatoes and scrape the insides to leave the skins and outer flesh. Set aside. If using avocado, roll knife around outside and twist to expose seed, remove seed, then scoop out flesh and dice. Toss avocado in extra lime juice and set in refrigerator. Halve the jalapeños and remove the inner vein and seeds. Add to rest of vegetables to be grilled.
- Add remainder of dressing ingredients to oil and garlic and stir to combine. Set aside to dress after grilling.
- Dump hot coals into foil pan with holes stabbed in bottom. Set pan on one side of grill for zone heat. Replace top grate and arrange corn, tomatoes, and jalapeños (skin sides down) over direct heat. Place onions in middle zone. Lay asparagus in cool zone. Cover with lid and grill about 5 minutes. Check vegetables after 5 minutes. Flip and rotate zones as necessary. Deep char desired on peppers and tomatoes, some darkening on onions, asparagus should just soften. Replace lid and cook another few minutes. Repeat pattern of rearranging vegetables as necessary. Remove vegetables to tray when done.
- Allow vegetables to cool enough to handle. Elevate corn from bottom of large bowl by inverting a soup or cereal bowl in the bottom. Scrape corn off cob with blade of knife, then milk cob with spine of knife. Remove smaller bowl when done with corn (watch for suction from corn liquids). Dice onions, tomatoes, and jalapeños. Roughly chop asparagus into bite-sized pieces.
- Toss all vegetables together in large bowl with dressing. Gently stir in avocado if using it. Refrigerate until chilled. Serve with tortillas, rice, and beans.
Ugh, delicious vegan food served cold in the devastating heat of July in Florida… Get in my tummy! I hope you guys enjoy finding new uses for your grills during grilling season. If you don’t have a grill available, you could use the broiler in your oven. Please leave your thoughts in a comment below, or get in touch with me directly by filling out the form on the contact page.
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