It’s grilling season!

I love to BBQ. On a warm summer evening there is nothing better than sitting outside, enjoying a glass of wine, and cooking up an entire meal on the grill. We have a charcoal grill, so to go through the trouble of lighting the coals and heating them up for just one thing is kind of a bummer, so I try to make as much as I can on the grill. Plus, I love the charcoal flavor grilling puts into everything. I could probably find a way to grill dessert! I think I found my next project!

This is a salad completely done on the grill, well except for the amazing herb dressing. The dressing can be made a day or even two in advance and the recipe makes more than you’ll need for the panzanella, but once you taste it you’ll want to put it on everything so you’ll be glad to have extras!

This herb dressing has so much fresh, bright flavor and goes perfectly with the charred veggies and bread. The best part is it come together in a snap! Just throw everything in a blander and…

this bright green goodness comes out. May I suggest immediately dipping a piece of bread into the freshly blended dressing? As a rule I always buy at least twice the amount of bread I need for a recipe like this because inevitably I somehow lose some to snacking as I cook. Is there something wrong with that???

I didn’t think so.

Time to get grillin’. Red bell peppers. Zucchini. Green onion. Once they are grilled and cool enough to handle, chop ‘em up. Throw everything in a bowl with on large chopped and seeded tomato and one chopped cucumber. I love the combo of warm and cold veggies in this dish. It’s perfect. Drizzle about 1/2 cup of dressing over the warm veggies. The warmth of grilled vegetables will help the dressing thin out and coat everything.

Slice your bread like you would for making crostini. Rub both sides with olive oil and throw on the grill about 2 minutes per side or until you get some good grill marks on the bread. Slice into cubes and toss with the veggies.

Add another 1/2 cup (or more!) of the dressing and toss well. Serve immediately-you don’t want the bread to get soggy! You can do all the steps except tossing the bread a couple hours ahead of time, but wait to add the bread till the last minute.

I served mine as a side to some grilled steaks, but you could throw in chicken, beef, even shrimp, and make a perfect one-bowl grilled meal!

Now go get grillin’! Just don’t forget to leave the coals on for s’mores! ;)

Enjoy!

Grilled Panzanella Salad with Homemade Herb Dressing
Ingredients
  • Herb Dressing
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped parsley (flat leaf or curly)
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped cilantro
  • 2/3 cup chopped mint
  • zest and juice of one lime
  • 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/2-1 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • Grilled Panzanella Salad
  • 2 small zucchini
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 1 yellow bell pepper
  • 6-8 green onions
  • 1 english cucumber, chopped
  • 1 large tomato, seeded and chopped
  • 1 sweet baguette
Instructions
  1. To make the Herb Dressing
  2. In a blender, combine first 8 ingredients
  3. Pulse to chop
  4. With the blender running, drizzle in olive oil (at least 1/2 cup and up to 1 cup to thin it out)
  5. Set aside
  6. To make the salad
  7. Slice the zucchini in half lengthwise
  8. Slice the bell peppers into three big slices (removing the tops and the centers)
  9. Toss zucchini, bell peppers, and green onion in vegetable oil, season with salt and pepper
  10. Grill vegetables over medium high heat until grill marks appear and vegetables are tender
  11. Bell peppers: 6-10 minutes, Zucchini: 6-10 minutes, Green onion: 3-5 minutes
  12. Slice the baguette, drizzle both sides with olive oil, season with salt and pepper
  13. Grill bread 2-3 minutes per side, until toasty
  14. Chop grilled vegetables, cucumber, and tomato
  15. Toss in a large bowl with 1/2 cup herd dressing
  16. Add grilled bread, toss with another 1/2 cup herb dressing, or more to taste
  17. Serve immediately