Roasted Vegetables Vinaigrette
serves 4-6
The 20 minutes of marinating time lets you prep this side dish in advance, and allows the vinaigrette to seep into every bit of vegetable. Any leftovers taste wonderful atop a bed of greens for a rich salad.
This recipe is part of Andrew Schloss's Sunday Dinners.
2 small heads garlic
3 ears corn, unhusked
3 bell peppers, assorted colors
3 leeks, white parts only, halved lengthwise and washed thoroughly
1 eggplant, stemmed and thickly sliced
8 large white mushrooms, stems trimmed and cleaned
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup chopped basil leaves
prep: 30 minutes
total: 50 minutes
grill
1. Place the garlic, unhusked corn and bell peppers on a lightly oiled grill 4 inches from a hot fire. Grill for 6 minutes, turning once.
2. Meanwhile, toss the leeks, eggplant slices and mushrooms with 1 1/2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Grill the leeks for 2 minutes, then add the eggplant and mushrooms. At the same time, give the garlic, corn and peppers a quarter turn, and grill 4 more minutes. Turn everything on the grill, and cook another 4 minutes. The vegetables are done when they are well browned and tender. Test the corn by peeling back a portion of a husk and checking the kernels for tenderness.
3. Husk the corn and cut the kernels from the ears by holding the ear upright and cutting down several rows of kernels with a sharp knife. Transfer to a bowl. Halve, stem and seed the peppers. Cube the peppers and the eggplant. Slice the mushrooms and leeks. Add vegetables to the bowl with the corn and set aside.
4. Cut the garlic in half and push out the soft cloves into a small mixing bowl. Whisk in the remaining olive oil, the vinegar, salt, pepper and basil. Pour the dressing over the vegetables a little at a time, tossing to coat. You may have dressing left over. Allow to marinate at least 20 minutes.
