Orchard News and Chews

End-of-Summer Grilled Salad

Posted on October 20, 2017 Updated on October 20, 2017

This is my farewell-to-summer salad recipe. I made it about a month ago, thinking I would save it to post next summer, but summer is extending waaaay beyond its normal Canadian boundaries, so I couldn’t resist sharing it now. Besides salad is good for you anytime, even if it’s a summer salad teetering on the cusp of Fall. We have all winter to feature beets, apples and pumpkins.

It all began very innocently: I was planning to make Grilled Peppers with Feta for our retail girls because we had such beautiful peppers at the store, and they are amazing marinated, grilled and stuffed with feta. I was telling them about our family’s introduction years ago to the cute, but hot cherry bomb peppers by one of our employees at market. He’s from Laos and told us how to cut off the top, hollow out the inside, sprinkle salt on the edges, then turn them upside down on a paper towel-lined pan to drain. This cuts down the heat factor. Then you stuff them with feta cheese and seasonings. I’ll tell you, our horizons have really broadened with our ethnic friends’ influence! We didn’t grow up eating hot stuff, but we love heat now. I make these cute, flaming delights once a year for our family.

One busy day this fall when I was assisting the girls at the store, I promised to make some for them. They agreed with reserved enthusiasm. I decide that to save time, I would employ the marinated pepper recipe that I love, using both sweet and hot peppers, and cut them smaller. It was a bit anti-climactic because the peppers aren’t very hot this year, due to all the rain they got during their growing season. But the girls loved them, and didn’t need to chase them down with milk.

End of summer bounty with olive oil and balsamic vinegar from my favourite place. Sweet bell peppers, hot cherry bombs, garlic and herbs.

Cut them along the sections.

A grapefruit spoon works beautifully to scoop out the seeds.

Starting face down, grill them on each side just until char marks appear

Stuff with herbed feta mixture and heat

The aroma is tantalizing!

Then I started thinking about all this delicious marinade, and the leftover peppers that I didn’t use. It hurts me to throw away perfectly good marinade that simply had peppers sitting in them for a few hours. It was a beautiful warm day, the grill was hot, I had other vegetables and chicken breasts thawing in my fridge. I marinated the vegetables in one bag and the chicken in another, and that is the backstory to the End-of-Summer Salad.

Note: You can use whatever vegetables you like that are grillable. That’s the beauty of salads! 

Mixing the herbed feta while the peppers marinate

Grill just until charred

I do like a good char!

As stated above, peppers are hotter in a dry year. It makes sense that a pepper with a higher water content would be milder, right? Keep them in the fridge in a bag. I have discovered that a grapefruit spoon works wonderfully to scoop out the seeds in a hot pepper.  

For the Grilled Stuffed Peppers, simply marinate them, sear them, and melt a spoonful of the herbed feta mixture in the cavity. So simple; so good. 

End-of-Summer Grilled Salad

• Servings: 4
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Ingredients

Salad:

• 2 sweet peppers
• 2 – 4 hot peppers (I used cherry bombs)
• 2 zucchini
• 4 – 6 green onions
• 4 chicken breasts
• 1 cup of herbed feta cheese or mix your own like I did
• mixed greens, washed and dried

Marinade:

• 2 – 3 large cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup good quality olive oil
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Directions

Cut peppers into halves, thirds or quarters, depending on their size. Cut zucchini in half crosswise, then again in half lengthwise. Leave the green onions whole. 

Whisk or shake together the marinade ingredients. Place chicken in one zippered plastic bag and vegetables in another. Pour half of the marinade into each bag, turning a few times to distribute it. Refrigerate and marinate for at least an hour, turning several times. Remove from the marinade and grill the vegetables quickly  on medium high heat. Don’t overcook them; you just want to sear them. Brush with remaining marinade. Remove the chicken from marinade and grill on medium until no longer pink inside. Again, brush with remaining marinade. I make a small slit in the fattest part of the breast to check doneness. Remove from the grill. 

To serve, slice the vegetables and meat and arrange on a bed of mixed greens. Add herbed feta cheese, drizzle with your favourite dressing, and say farewell to summer.