This Food Thing

This is one of my favorite things in summer to eat.  I love to grill the vegetables, changing out the vegetables according to what is is season.  It looks really lovely plated.  This is fantastic to serve with grilled fish – salmon or tuna being my preference.

Chilled Roasted Vegetables, with Portobello Mushrooms and Honey-Shallot Vinaigrette

1 Medium Zucchini — yellow or green, trimmed, and sliced
20 Cherry tomatoes, or 2 cups of grape tomatoes.  Blanch and remove skin, if you prefer.  Or, 3 large tomatoes, seeded and chopped into sections.
1 medium red pepper, chopped
1 medium yellow pepper, chopped
1 medium celeriac, or bulb fennel, sliced thin
1 large onion, chopped
6 Large portobello mushrooms – cleaned, but left whole.
2 cloves of minced fine garlic
2-3 tablespoons of oil — a nice olive oil
Salt & Pepper to taste

Okay.. for the vinaigrette..I just kind of make it.  My measurements are imprecise, but tasty ;)

Olive oil
good red wine vinegar (or balsamic, if you like)
1 squeezed lemon
a bit of honey
1 minced shallot

Heat the oven to 450F or about 240C.  Place the vegetables – zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, celeriac, onions and mushrooms evenly on a roasting pan, or baking sheet.  Mix the olive oil, and garlic together and sprinkle over the vegetables.  Salt and pepper.  Roast for about 30-35 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the ingredients for the vinaigrette.  If you have good olive oil, use that, otherwise a good salad oil or vegetable oil will work. Use about 4 table spoons or so. 2 Tablespoons of vinegar.  If you don’t have a fresh lemon, you are really missing out on good flavor.  But if you don’t — use about 2 tablespoons of bottled lemon juice.  Mix in about 1/2 teaspoon of honey, and the shallot.  Do not use much honey – you do not want the vegetables to be sweet, but just balance the high acidity in the vinaigrette.

Once the vegetables have come out of the oven, set the mushrooms aside.  Pour 1/2 of of the vinaigrette over the remaining vegetables, and refrigerate for about 1 hour. 

To serve, place one mushroom on six plates, and evenly distribute the roasted vegetables among the plates, placing the vegetables on top of the mushroom.  Drizzle the remaining vinaigrette over the vegetables just before serving.

To Grill:

Lightly oil the grill grates.  Chop the vegetables into larger, even pieces, so they won’t slip through the grill grates.  Grill over hot coals, but without flame.  If you are using a gas grill, heat one side of the grill, while placing the vegetables on the opposite side.  Grill the vegetables, turning once, until done. 

Note:

Use any kind of vinegar you like (except White).  Red Wine, Rice Wine, Cider, or Balsamic.  I really like to  use Balsamic, but not every time.