Perfectly Grilled Vegetables with Garlicky Yogurt Tahini Sauce
Crunchy, flavorful, caramelized grilled vegetables paired with a cool, creamy, and slightly nutty sauce make a delicious healthy appetizer or a surprisingly satisfying light meal.
Servings: 4
Equipment
- Grill
- Grilling tongs
- 2-3 large sheet pans
- Basting brush
Ingredients
Grilled Eggplant, Zucchini, and Broccoli
- 1 Large Eggplant
- 1 Medium Zucchini
- 4 Cups Broccoli
- Plenty of Sea Salt
- 2 tsp Crushed Red Pepper (Optional)
- Lots of Extra Virgin Olive Oil You will be using olive oil liberally on all vegetables
- 1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
- 1/4 Cup Roasted Red Peppers Sliced into strips (Optional)
Garlicky Yogurt Tahini Sauce
- 1 Cup Full Fat Greek Yogurt I highly recommend using Fage Total 5% Milk Fat greek yogurt - the texture and creaminess are outstanding.
- 3 Tbsp Sesame Tahini
- 2 Medium Cloves Garlic
- 1/2 Lemon Juiced
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
Instructions
Draw out Moisture - Eggplant & Zucchini
- Slice eggplant and zucchini into 1/2 inch rounds - try to be as consistent as you can - this will make grilling easier.
- Lay eggplant and zucchini rounds out on paper towels and sprinkle liberally on both sides with salt.
- Let salted eggplant and zucchini stand for at least a half hour to draw out moisture.
- In the meantime cut up and season the broccoli and make the sauce.
Prepare & Season Broccoli
- Trim tough outer stem if necessary and cut broccoli up into spears leaving plenty of stem (the stem grills up beautifully and holds everything together.)
- Spread out broccoli on a large piece of aluminum foil set on top of a sheet pan.
- Drizzle on about 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil to coat all broccoli spears.
- Season with about 1 Tbsp sea salt and 1 tsp crushed red pepper, if using.
- Drizzle on 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar and toss well to coat and set aside.
- Turn grill on high at this point to preheat and make the sauce.
Garlicky Yogurt Tahini Sauce
- Juice lemon half into a small bowl.
- Finely mince garlic and place in bowl with lemon juice.
- Add all other ingredients and mix well until everything is incorporated.
- Cover and place in the fridge to chill.
Season Eggplant & Zucchini & Grill all Vegetables
- Going back to your eggplant and zucchini, you should now see obvious beads of moisture standing out from the sliced rounds.
- Use paper towels to firmly press eggplant and zucchini slices to draw out as much moisture as possible.
- Next coat the bottom of a sheet pan with 3 or 4 Tbsps of extra virgin olive oil and place all the eggplant and zucchini slices in a single layer (use two sheet pans if necessary.)
- Pour 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil into a small bowl and use a basting brush to coat the tops of all the eggplant and zucchini slices. If you don't own a basting brush you can use a combination of a spoon and your fingers to evenly distribute the olive oil - the idea is to evenly coat without absolutely soaking the slices in olive oil.
- The grill should be nice and hot at this point - turn it down just a little from full high to just a bit below full high and place the eggplant and zucchini directly on the grill.
- The eggplant and zucchini should only take about 4-5 minute per side but should be watched very closely and turned often to get the most even browning on all sides.
- When done pieces should appear dry with slightly curled edges - not floppy or soggy! If pieces are browning too quickly and are still floppy turn down heat and cook a bit longer.
- Next place the broccoli on the grill on the aluminum foil (so that it won't fall through the grates) and grill stirring frequently for 4 or 5 minutes until pieces are golden brown in many places (a little charring in spots is fine too.)
- Serve vegetables immediately with sliced roasted peppers and sauce.
Notes
Vegetables are also delicious at room temperature and even straight from the fridge.