Grilled Spring Vegetable Salad with Romesco Sauce

Spring is in the air. Finally. So here is a recipe to really celebrate the brilliant variety of vegetables springtime has to offer - sub in any vegetables you have in the fridge like asparagus, broccoli, fennel, you name it. 

I love Romesco sauce, but this is a little twist on the charred red pepper classic. If you make a little extra, this sauce can be used as a punchy base for any great salad, served alongside a simple piece of grilled meat or fish, or even used as an alternative to pesto to dress-up your lunch-time bowl of pasta. 

Ingredients

Serves 4 as a side, 2 as a main 

• 2 x courgettes, halved lengthways and cut into large chunks

• 1 x baby gem lettuce, quartered, with root intact

• 1 x bunch spring onions

• 1 x avocado, sliced

• ½ cucumber, halved and thinly sliced

• 1 x tin butterbeans, drained and rinsed

• 1 lemon, quartered

• A handful of pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds and mint to garnish

For the sauce:

• 50g smoked almonds

• 2 x thick slices of stale sourdough bread (any white bread will work), crusts removed, roughly torn

• 4 x green bell peppers, core and seeds removed and chopped into large pieces

• 1tbsp sherry or red wine vinegar

• 2 x garlic cloves, peeled

• 100ml olive oil

Method

1. Heat a griddle pan over medium heat.

2. In a large bowl, drizzle the courgette, baby gem, lemon and spring onions with a little oil, salt and pepper.

3. Toss to coat, then (in batches) grill the vegetables cut side down, occasionally turning for 5-10 minutes until tender and nice bar marks have been achieved all over. Transfer the grilled vegetables to a large bowl and set aside to cool.

4. For the green Romesco sauce, blitz all the sauce ingredients except the oil together in a blender until a rough paste is formed, then slowly pouring in the oil with the motor still running. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

5. Add the cucumber, avocado and butterbeans to the bowl with the grilled vegetables and toss to combine.

6. Spread the sauce generously on the bottom of your serving plate, layer the vegetables on top, then sprinkle over the mixed seeds.

This is a naturally vegan recipe, but it would also be lovely with some feta or a piece of halloumi on top to make it a more substantial meal. 

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Written by Jesse Kempner

Jesse is a professional Leiths-trained chef, with a particular flair for cooking delicious and seasonal, vegetarian meals. When not in the kitchen, you might find her writing a vegetarian cookbook, training for a half marathon, or watching David Attenborough documentaries

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