Grilled Vegetable Salad with Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette

Imagine all of your favourite vegetables cooked on the grill, tossed together with arugula and maple balsamic vinaigrette, and then topped with goat cheese. That sounds amazing, doesn't it? Well, that is exactly what I am going to show you how to make today. This Grilled Vegetable Salad is the perfect accompaniment to grilled chicken, steak, pork, or even fish. It screams summer, and it tastes amazing. Are you ready to see how it's made? I know I am! So, let's get to it.

Grilled Vegetable Salad Recipe

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The Vegetables

The vegetables I used for my salad are red and green bell pepper, red onion, zucchini, sweet potato, and cherry tomatoes. What's great about this salad is that you can use anything fresh and in season. Other vegetables like squash, eggplant, and asparagus all work really well in this. So, use what you like.

Prepping The Vegetables For The Grill

Bell Peppers

First things first, the vegetables have to be prepared for grilling. We'll start with the peppers. Cut off the top and bottom and set them aside. Stand the pepper up and make a slice down one side of it. Place the pepper on its side and put your knife inside the slice you just made. Keeping your knife tight against the inside of the pepper, cut and roll. The idea is that you are cutting the inside ribs to release the seed pod without making a big mess of seeds. When you've gone all around the pepper, the seed pod should be free, and you should have one long strip of pepper. Cut the pepper stirp in half and move on to the next vegetable.

Red Onions

Next up, red onion. The easiest way I've found to grill onions is to slice them into fairly thick rounds (about ¼ of an inch) and put them on a skewer. So, that is exactly what we'll do. Slice the onion into thick rounds, remove the peel and put the rounds on a skewer. To ensure that the onion holds together while grilling, the skewer must be threaded through the middle of the onion.

Cherry Tomatoes

As with the onion, the easiest way to grill cherry tomatoes is to put them on a skewer. There's isn't really a trick to this. Just skewer them. I'm using fancy metal skewers because I'm cool like that, but if you use wooden ones, soak them for at least 30 minutes before putting them near a fire.

Zucchini

The second to last vegetable to prep is the zucchini. Cut it into long thick strips (again, about a ¼ of an inch thick). That's all you have to do. I like to cut vegetables like zucchini and the sweet potato, as you'll see in a minute, into strips rather than rounds when grilling because I find they are less likely to fall between the grate of my grill. If you want to risk it and cut them into rounds, go for it.

Sweet Potato

I had three tiny sweet potatoes, but you can obviously use one large one instead if you have it. Peel it, and cut the sweet potato into thin strips. Becasue the sweet potato will take longer to cook than anything else, you want to cut it thinner than everything else. This will help ensure that everything cooks in about the same amount of time.

Grilling The Vegetables

The vegetables are all cut up, some are on skewers, and now it's time to get grilling. Wow! Wait a minute there speedy. We have to season and oil the vegetables first. Drizzle a few tablespoons of olive oil over the vegetables and season them on both sides with a little salt and pepper. Okay, now we can hit the grill.

Even though I didn't mention it before, your grill should have been preheating on medium-high heat for the last 15 minutes. Throw the vegetables on the grill. Close the lid and let them cook. How long it takes to cook the vegetables will be largely determined by your grill, how windy it is outside, and what the outside temperature is. So, all I can really say is cook your vegetables until they are cooked. Make sense? You want them to have some bite still but not be hard. They should have a little char but not be burnt. Take a look at the pictures below for a little guidance.

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Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette

While the vegetables are grilling, or before you put them on the grill, you need to make the Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette. Don't worry, it is super easy. To make the dressing get a medium mixing bowl and combine 1 teaspoon mustard powder, 1 tablespoon maple syrup, and a ¼ cup balsamic vinegar. Whisk it all together, then whisk in a few drops of canola or grapeseed oil. Once those drops have all been incorporated, whisk in a few more. Then a few more. After three or four oil additions, you can start to add the remainder (½ cup in total) in a slow, steady stream whisking the whole time. Once all of the oil has been added and is whisked in, taste the dressing, and season with salt and pepper as needed.

You can use this Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette right away or store it in the fridge in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

Marinate The Tomatoes

Okay, back to the grill. Once the tomatoes start to pop (4 to 5 minutes flipping once), take them off the grill, remove them from the skewer and put them right in the dressing to marinate while the other vegetables finish cooking.

Grilled Vegetable Salad

Finishing The Grilled Vegetables

As the vegetables finish cooking, take them off the grill and set them aside. Once all the vegetables are finished, take them back to the house, and make the salad. Start by cutting all of the grilled vegetables into bite-sized pieces.

Making The Grilled Vegetable Salad

Put four to five cups of arugula in a large mixing bowl, spoon the dressing and the tomatoes over the arugula. Add the rest of the vegetables and toss. If you are only making a salad for one or two people, prepare it in a medium mixing bowl with half the vegetables and spoon some of the dressing over the greens.

Finish The Salad

To finish the salad, plate it in four small bowls or on one large platter. Top it with crumbled goat cheese and serve.

The Wrap Up

I love this salad because the sweetness from the grilled vegetables plays with the spiciness of the arugula and the tartness of the vinaigrette. Then, the creaminess of the goat cheese ties it all together to create something truly delicious and memorable. Give it a try for yourself. You won't be disappointed.