Grill up some vegetables and toss them with chickpeas, capers and a Dijon vinaigrette for a delicious vegan entree or side dish.
I always say that if you're trying to convince someone to like vegetables, just throw the veggies on the grill and drizzle with a little vinaigrette. Magic in minutes! And, in my opinion, the vegetables are usually just as good when they cool to room temperature as when they are served straight off of the grill, which makes them ideal for make-ahead potluck dishes or weekday meals.
If you're looking for a meatless meal, this salad will do the trick. It's chockfull of vegetables, with a hit of protein from the chickpeas. If chickpeas aren't your thing, you could replace them with cannellini beans or grilled tofu.
The dressing is stolen straight from my Roasted Asparagus with Dijon Vinaigrette recipe. Hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I was looking for an extra layer of saltiness and flavor, and thought about sprinkling in some feta cheese. However, since I had just devoured a plateful of cheese and crackers for a snack, I thought it best to veer away from the cheese (that's a hard one for me!) Instead, I added some briny capers, which satisfied the need for additional salt.
The beauty of salads like this one is that they are incredibly versatile. If you don't have summer squash, increase the amount of zucchini or replace it with eggplant. Mix it up a little by switching out the red peppers for yellow or orange ones. Just use whatever is in your fridge and grill to your heart's content.
Other healthy grilled vegetable recipes:
Grilled Zucchini & Eggplant Parmesan
Grilled Vegetable Enchiladas {Gluten-Free}
Printable Recipe
Want to save this recipe?
Enter your email below & we'll send it straight to your inbox. Plus you’ll get great new recipes from us every week!
Grilled Vegetable, Chickpea & Caper Salad {Vegan}
Ingredients
- 1 red bell pepper quartered
- 2 medium zucchini cut into ½-inch thick strips
- 1 medium summer squash cut into ½-inch thick strips
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 cup low-sodium chickpeas drained
- 1 tablespoon drained capers
- 6 basil leaves thinly sliced
The Dressing:
- 2 ½ teaspoons white wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoon minced shallots
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground pepper
- 2 ½ teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the grill to medium heat. Lightly coat the grill with cooking spray or oil.
- Place the red bell pepper, zucchini and summer squash in a large bowl and toss with the olive oil, salt and pepper.
- Grill the vegetable until just tender when pierced with a fork, about 2 minutes per side. Take care not to overcook the vegetables.
- Cut the vegetables into chunks and transfer to a serving bowl. Add the chickpeas, capers and basil, and toss with the vinaigrette. Serve.
The Dressing:
- In a small bowl, whisk together the white wine vinegar, shallots, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper until smooth.
- While whisking slowly pour in the olive oil until the dressing is combined.
Notes
Nutrition
Disclosure: This post contains links to my Amazon affiliate page. Any revenue made from sales through these links helps to support this blog. Thank you!
Colleen (Souffle Bombay)
What a great non-meat option...extra extra capers for me!
Lauren @ Healthy Delicious
There's something magical about grilled vegetables - they taste so good! I love the veg to bean ratio of this, too, usually salads with beans fall so squarely into "bean salad" territory.
Rose | The Clean Dish
I love that you use capers!! People discriminate against capers all the time. I also love that this is vegan. It's on the menu for the weekend 🙂