The Garlic Diaries

Food and Life with a Punch of Flavor

  • About Me
  • Recipes
  • Life
    • Marriage
    • Parenting
    • Meal Plans
    • Random
  • Contact Me

Pesto Grilled Vegetable Salad

November 3, 2014 by Annie Chesson Leave a Comment

Jump to Recipe

IMG_2754 copy

Don’t you love grilled vegetables? I’m not sure what it is about them, but they just taste so much better than sauteed or steamed vegetables. My love for grilled vegetables is what inspired this recipe.

This is the third and final day of my pesto week! After this I will be moving onto recipes that aren’t pesto-centric. And this was a good recipe to end on. The pesto flavor is very muted in this recipe because I wanted to post a pesto recipe that used the condiment as more of a background flavor that brings depth rather than pesto punching you in the face ;)…not like that would be a bad thing.

IMG_2744 copySo this healthy, delicious salad starts with four different kinds of veggies.

Red pepper, green beans, red onion, and red potatoes (I just realized that three of those four ingredients start with red….that wasn’t intentional….but it’s kind of cool…).

IMG_2690 copy

And then you cut them up.

For the red peppers, just cut down each side. You should have four flat slices from each pepper.

For the red onion, take off the skin and slice into 1/2 inch rounds.

For the green beans, cut off the tops and bottoms and then slice into 2 inch (or so) pieces.

For the red potatoes, slice into 1/2 inch thick rounds.

IMG_2697 copy

Take all the vegetables except for the red onions and put them in a large bowl. Spoon one tablespoon of pesto on top of the veggies along with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Mix together with your hands until all the vegetables are coated evenly. I don’t include the red onions in this step because they tend to fall apart when you are mixing everything together.

Lay out the red onion rounds on the cutting board and drizzle each side with a little bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Then begin grilling! I used a grill pan because I live in an apartment that doesn’t allow real grills (BOO!), but if you have an actual grill, by all means, use it.

It doesn’t really matter what order you grill everything in, just make sure that the vegetables have dark grill marks before turning them. I started with the onions and peppers.

IMG_2708 copy

See what I mean about the dark grill marks? You definitely want those.

And then I grilled my potatoes and green beans. If you are using an actual grill, you will need to either place the green beans in foil and then grill them, or set a grill pan on the grates of your actual grill and use that to cook them. Or else all your beans will fall through and be destroyed!

IMG_2717 copy

The amount you cook all of your veggies is really up to you. I like mine to still have a little bite to them. The only one you need to be careful about is the potatoes. Those need to be tender when you take them off the grill…no one likes undercooked, crunchy potatoes.

Except for my husband. He would eat a potato in any form.

So once all your vegetables are done, move them to a cutting board and dice them up into 1 inch (ish) pieces. You don’t need to chop the green beans.

IMG_2722 copy

Now dice up 1/2 to 3/4 of a hot house cucumber, and 2 tomatoes. Season them lightly with salt and pepper before adding them to the bowl with the roasted veggies.

IMG_2731 copy

Stack about eleven basil leaves on top of each other, roll them up in the shape of a hot dog, and thinly slice them. That is called a chiffonade! And you can feel fancy while doing it.

All you need to do now is make your SUPER simple dressing, and you’re ready to go!

Just squeeze half a lemon (it should be about a tablespoon of juice) and mix it in with one tablespoon olive oil. Add a little salt and pepper, mix it up, and pour it on your salad.

Toss it all together and then add your basil on top.

IMG_2733 copy

Mmmm…

IMG_2748 copy

Here is the recipe:

Print

Pesto Grilled Vegetable Salad

  • Author: Annie Chesson
  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 40 mins
  • Total Time: 50 mins
  • Yield: 3 servings 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 3 red potatoes
  • 1 red onion
  • 1 red pepper
  • 1 cup green beans
  • 1 tablespoon pesto
  • Salt and Pepper
  • 1/2 to 2/3 hothouse cucumber
  • 2 tomatoes (optional)
  • 11 basil leaves
  • 1/2 lemon
  • Olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic

Instructions

  1. Slice your red pepper down each side so you end up with four flat slices
  2. Slice your red onion into 1/2 inch rounds
  3. Slice your red potatoes into 1/2 inch rounds
  4. Chop off the tops and bottoms of your green beans, and chop into 2 inch (or so) pieces
  5. Place your onion, potatoes, and green beans in a large bowl
  6. Spoon in 1 tablespoon of pesto, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  7. Mix together with your hands until all the vegetables are evenly coated
  8. Lay your red onions out on a flat surface and drizzle each side lightly with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper
  9. Grill your vegetables until there are dark grill marks on each side
  10. The cooking time will vary based on how you like your vegetables cooked (I like mine to still have a bite to them) with everything except the red potatoes
  11. The red potatoes need to be fork tender before you take them off the grill
  12. Once all your vegetables are grilled, chop everything (except the green beans) up into a 1 inch dice
  13. Half your cucumber and slice it into half moons
  14. Chop up your tomatoes (if you are using them) into 1 inch cubes
  15. Season the cucumber and tomatoes lightly with salt and pepper
  16. Thinly slice your basil leaves
  17. For the dressing:
  18. Squeeze half a lemon (about 1 tablespoon of juice) into a small bowl and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  19. Season with salt and pepper and mix together
  20. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss until all the vegetables are mixed together and coated with dressing
  21. Sprinkle the basil on top
  22. **The cook time for this recipe will vary based on how you like your vegetables cooked and whether or not you have a real grill. Since I used a grill pan, it took a little longer because I had to grill my vegetables in batches.**

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo and tag us — we can't wait to see what you've made!

Pesto Grilled Vegetable Salad

Pin It

Filed Under: All Recipes, Dinner, Gluten Free, Lunch, Salad, Sides, Vegetarian Tagged With: Gluten Free, Grilled Vegetables, Healthy, Pesto Grilled Vegetable Salad, Salad, Vegan, Vegetarian

« Pesto Chicken Salad Pita Pockets
30 Minute Light Shrimp Scampi »

Want posts delivered directly to your inbox? Subscribe to The Garlic Diaries today!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

CommentLuv badgeShow more posts

Search

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Annie Chesson
I am a passionate Christian, wife, cooking addict, and mom to the two sweetest boys in the world! Join me in my journey to create delicious, flavorful food. More About Me...

Subscribe to The Garlic Diaries

view my food post on usrg.com

Copyright © 2023 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress