Quick Spanish Grilled Veggie Salad Recipe

If you are looking for a versatile salad that you can enjoy all year round, then you are in the right place.

In this article, we will talk about grilled veggie salad, one of the best easy Spanish salad recipes that you will find.

Here we will give you the recipe step by step, with some helpful tips for storing, serving, and more.

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Background of the Dish

Among the traditional Spanish salads, the grilled veggie salad is the oldest, since its original version has existed since the times when humans learned to cook with fire.

It is an emblematic dish of Andalusian cuisine since its main ingredients, such as aubergines, zucchini, and peppers, are typical of the region and are easily found in local markets.

Today it is one of the most popular salad recipes in the entire region, and it has reached different countries where they give it their own touch, but the Spanish version stands out for the use of olive oil and sherry vinegar.

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Things You’ll Need for Grilled Veggie Salad

To make the grilled veggie salad you need eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers, onion, tomatoes, olive oil, and sherry vinegar as the main ingredients.

It is better to make this traditional Spanish salad with a grill (regular one or electric), but you can cook the vegetables in the oven too.

Ingredients

• 2 eggplants
• 2 zucchini
• 2 red bell peppers
• 2 yellow bell peppers
• 1 red onion
• 4 ripe tomatoes
• extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• fresh basil leaves for garnish (optional)

How to Make Grilled Veggie Salad – Step by Step Guide

1. The first step in this grilled vegetable salad recipe is to preheat the grill or electric grill to medium-high heat.

2. Then, wash and cut the eggplants and zucchini into slices approximately 1 cm thick. You can peel them too, but it would be easier to remove the skin later on in the recipe (after they are cooked).

3. After that, cut the bell peppers in half, remove the seeds, and cut them into large pieces.

4. Now, peel and cut the onion into thick slices. Also, wash and cut the tomatoes into quarters, and you can also remove the seeds if you want.

5. Then grab a separate bowl, and mix 4 tablespoons of olive oil, salt, pepper, sherry vinegar, and ground cumin. At this point, you can add more spices to the grilled vegetables salad if you want.

6. For the next step, brush the vegetables with that mix of oil and spices on both sides.

7. Now, place the vegetables on the hot grill and cook them for 10 minutes on each side, or until they are tender and golden. Rotate the vegetables to make sure they cook evenly.

8. After that, remove the vegetables from the grill and let them cool so that you can work with them. Then cut them into smaller pieces if you like (that way you won’t have big chunks on your Spanish salad).

9. Then, place the grilled vegetables in a large salad bowl. Add a few fresh basil leaves (optional) and drizzle with a little more olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste. Mix gently to combine the flavors.

10. For the final step, just let the salad rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before serving. After that time, the grilled veggie salad is ready to serve.

Substitution of Ingredients

What we love the most about salad recipes from Spain is that you can play a lot with the ingredients.

For example, if you don’t have olive oil or sherry vinegar, you can prepare this grilled veggie salad with any type of vegetable oil and vinegar that you have on hand.

You can take inspiration from other grilled vegetable salads and use all sorts of veggies, like carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc.

Besides that, you can play with the spices that you use for this grilled veggie salad: paprika and chili flakes give a great kick to it.

Lastly, you can remove any vegetable that you don’t like from this Spanish summer salad.

Tips on Serving Grilled Veggie Salad

Although it is mostly known as a grilled summer vegetable salad, you can enjoy it all year round, thanks to the cooking process of the vegetables.

To take this simple Spanish salad to the next level, you can add some manchego cheese cubes, or some shredded parmesan cheese right before serving.

Besides that, this grilled veggie salad can be served as a side dish to any type of main dish, or as a tapas (appetizer) especially if you serve it with bread.

If you have a special dinner prepared or some guests are coming over, you can make an easy salad bar with other salads from Spain, like the ensalada de gambas or the ensalada de melon and this one.

How to Store Grilled Veggie Salad

The grilled veggie salad can be stored in the fridge or in the freezer, depending on what you need.

In both cases, you have to let the Spanish style salad come to room temperature and place it in a covered container. 

Then you can store it in the fridge for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to 15 days.

Other Spanish salad recipes that can be stored for longer are the Spanish seafood salad, the ensalada de bacalao, and the ensalada de salmon.

Recipe Card: Grilled Veggie Salad

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