Warmer mediterraner Gemüsesalat (warm Mediterranean vegetable salad)
Units
Temperature
Servings
Ingredients
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
Method
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.