Warmer mediterraner Gemüsesalat (warm Mediterranean vegetable salad)
A warm salad of quickly seared Mediterranean vegetables tossed straight from the hot pan with a sharp vinegar dressing, the residual heat wilting the dressing's raw edge into the vegetables in a way a cold salad never gets. Searing the vegetables in batches rather than all at once is what keeps them browned instead of steamed and grey.
Prep15 min
Cook15 min
Servings4
Christoph's warm Mediterranean vegetable salad, the vegetables seared in batches and tossed hot with a sharp vinegar dressing.
Ingredients
Units
Temperature
Servings
Vegetables
- 200 g zucchini, sliced into half-moons rounded
- 200 g eggplant, cut into 2 cm cubes rounded
- 150 g red bell pepper, cut into strips rounded
- 100 g red onion, cut into wedges rounded
- 60 ml olive oil, divided for searing in batches rounded
- 150 g cherry tomatoes, halved rounded
- 15 g fresh basil rounded
Dressing
- 30 ml red wine vinegar rounded
- 1 garlic clove, grated rounded
- to taste fine salt rounded
- to taste freshly ground black pepper rounded
Dietary labels are a guide, not a guarantee. If you have an allergy, read the ingredients yourself.
Method
- Heat a third of the olive oil in a wide pan or skillet over high heat. Sear the eggplant in a single layer for 3 to 4 minutes, turning once, until browned on the cut surfaces. Remove to a large bowl.
- Repeat with the zucchini, adding a little more oil, searing until browned. Add to the bowl.
- Repeat with the pepper and onion, searing until they colour at the edges. Add to the bowl.
- Whisk the vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper together for the dressing.
- While the vegetables are still hot, toss with the dressing, cherry tomatoes and basil. Serve warm.
Notes
- Sear the vegetables in batches, never all at once. A crowded pan traps steam and the vegetables boil in their own moisture instead of browning; batches keep the pan hot enough to actually sear.
- Dress the vegetables while they’re hot. The residual heat softens the dressing’s sharp edge into the vegetables in a way a cold salad never achieves; wait too long and it’s just vinegar sitting on top.
- Add the tomatoes and basil off the heat, at the very end. Cooking them defeats the point of their raw freshness against the warm, seared vegetables.
- Best eaten within the hour; it doesn’t hold as a make-ahead salad the way a cold, marinated one would, since the seared texture softens further as it sits.
Ingredient substitutions
- Any combination of Mediterranean vegetables works, courgette, aubergine and pepper are the base, but fennel or artichoke hearts are good additions.
- Balsamic vinegar can replace red wine vinegar for a sweeter dressing.
- A crumble of feta on top is a good non-vegan addition.
From Christoph Mayer