Tunisian-Style Grilled Vegetables (Mechouia)

The key to perfectly cooked vegetables in this salad is cutting the vegetables in half before grilling.

A cookbook recipe exclusively for ATK Essential members from The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook

YIELD 4 to 6

TIME 1¾ hours

The Complete Vegetarian CookbookA cookbook recipe exclusively for ATK Essential members from The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook

Why This Recipe Works

Gather Your Ingredients

VINAIGRETTE
VEGETABLES

Key Equipment

Key Equipment - The Best Rasp Graters
Key Equipment - The Best Chef’s Knives for $75 or Less

Before You Begin

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Serve as a side dish to grilled meats and fish; with grilled pita as a salad course; or with hard-cooked eggs, olives, and premium canned tuna as a light lunch. Equal amounts of ground coriander and cumin can be substituted for the whole spices.

Instructions

1.

FOR THE VINAIGRETTE: Grind coriander seeds, caraway seeds, and cumin seeds in spice grinder until finely ground. Whisk ground spices, oil, paprika, and cayenne together in bowl. Reserve 3 tablespoons oil mixture. Heat remaining oil mixture and garlic in small skillet over low heat, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and small bubbles appear, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to large bowl and let cool, about 10 minutes. Whisk parsley, cilantro, mint, and lemon zest and juice into oil mixture; season with salt to taste.

2.

FOR THE VEGETABLES: Slice ¼ inch off tops and bottoms of bell peppers and remove cores. Make slit down 1 side of each bell pepper and then press flat into 1 long strip, removing ribs and remaining seeds with knife as needed. Using sharp knife, cut slits in flesh of eggplant and zucchini, spaced 1/2 inch apart, in crosshatch pattern, being careful to cut down to but not through skin. Brush cut sides of bell peppers, eggplant, zucchini, and tomatoes with reserved oil mixture and season with salt to taste.

3.

Grill vegetables, starting with cut sides down, over medium-hot fire, until tender and well browned and skins of bell peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, and shallots are charred, 8 to 16 minutes, turning and moving vegetables as necessary. Transfer vegetables to baking sheet as they are done. Place bell peppers in bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let steam to loosen skins.

4.

When cool enough to handle, peel bell peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, and shallots. Chop all vegetables into ½-inch pieces and transfer to bowl with vinaigrette; toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve warm or at room temperature.

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