CHARGRILLED MARINATED SUMMER VEGETABLES

This salad is all about flavour! I use as much variety as possible so i get amazing flavours, textures and colour.  It is summer after all and you want this to ‘wow’ your guests!

Serves 10

ingredients

1 large aubergine

1 bulb fennel , leafy tops reserved

2 courgettes

1 bunch asparagus  (if in season)

2 red peppers

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 small bunch fresh basil, oregano or marjoram leaves picked

Small handful flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

3 Tbsp red wine vinegar

2 cloves garlic , finely chopped

Method

Let your barbecue die down ready to cook or put a griddle pan on a high heat to get nice and hot. Slice the aubergine about 1cm thick, slice the fennel bulb at an angle about 3mm thick, then slice the courgettes lengthways in about the same thickness as the fennel. Snap the woody ends off of the asparagus. Leave the peppers whole.

Pile everything onto a large tray ready to cook. In batches, add the veg to your barbecue or hot griddle to cook for about 5 to 10 minutes, or until charred, soft and delicious. Remember that each vegetable will cook in a different amount of time so keep checking and turning everything and as soon as it is looking good, transfer it to a large bowl (keeping the cooked peppers to one side) and get the next lot of veg on.

Carefully remove the black skin on the peppers, open them up and scrape away the seeds. Don’t worry about getting all of the skin off but do the best you can. This is a messy job but totally worth it! Tear the peppers up into strands and add to the bowl, along with the extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar and a good pinch of salt and pepper.