Balsamic Vegetables
A charred medley of fresh, crisp veggies is simply dressed with balsamic vinegar and EVOO in these stove-top prepared Balsamic Vegetables. Terrific “grilled” flavor, available to you without the grill!
No Grill “Grilled Veggies”
I have a love of Balsamic Grilled Vegetables. When we host friends or family in the summertime, it is my go-to side. Everyone loves it. I can’t stop eating it. And neither can my kids! It’s colorful and beautiful. Pairs well with almost every protein. And isn’t heavy. Love these veggies! Love, love, love them!
But I have a confession. I killed our grill. Yup! I cooked steaks on the grill some time ago that caused a grease fire, that led to me being rescued by the fire department! 2 Chicago-deployed-trucks to be exact! Sadly, to extinguish the fire they needed to cover our gas grill with flame-fighting foam! And the foam damaged the grill beyond use.
This recipe grew from my love of Balsamic Grilled Veggies and my lack of a grill! Ha! But you benefit from my mishap.
You can have Balsamic Grilled Veggies without a grill! Yes you can! All you need is a stove top. I actually charred these in a non-stick pan. I didn’t even use a grill pan. So next time you bought 3 lbs of raw vegetables for grilling and it rains, or you just have a hankering for Balsamic Grilled Veggies but don’t have access or time to fire up a grill, try this recipe. You will be amazed! And it’s so simple!
Enjoy! And if you like the recipe, please share on Pinterest, or snap a photo of your creation and tag me on Twitter, or Instagram!
Balsamic Vegetables
Equipment
- 1 Saute pan large
- 1 mixing bowl large
Ingredients
- 1 Bunch Asparagus remove woody stem on each stalk (cutting about 1½" off each bottom) and cut each stalk into thirds
- 1 Zucchini cut into ¼" rounds
- 1 Yellow Summer Squash cut into ¼" rounds
- 1 Red Onion coarsely chopped
- 2 Cups Baby Bell Peppers
- ¼ Cup Balsamic Vinegar
- ¼ Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil plus more for sauteing
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Wash, dry and cut your vegetables per the instructions above.
- Place prepped veggies into a large mixing bowl. Pour oil and vinegar over vegetables and generously season with salt and pepper (start with a few pinches of salt and a few turns of freshly ground pepper. You can always adjust seasoning later). Toss with your hands to coat the vegetables. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes.
- Over medium heat, add about ⅓ vegetables to a large saute pan. *You will need to work in batches to avoid crowding the pan. Allow the vegetables to cook for about 1-2 minutes undisturbed, until a char begins to form. Using tongs, turn over the vegetables to cook the other side for about 1 minute.
- Transfer the cooked vegetables to a serving bowl. Add about 1 tbsp of EVOO to the now empty pan. Add half of the remaining uncooked vegetables to the pan. Repeat step 3, allowing vegetables to cook on each side about 1-2 minutes until a char begins to form. Transfer the cooked vegetables to the serving bowl. Repeat with remaining uncooked vegetables.
- Pour any of the balsamic vinegar and oil from the mixing bowl onto the cooked vegetables. Toss to dress. Add additional salt and pepper as needed. Enjoy!
