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Stacked Tomato, Summer Vegetable and Grilled Bread Salad

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5 from 2 reviews

A beautiful display of summer vegetables at their peak. This salad consists of grilled vegetables piled high onto a slice of country-style grilled bread, topped with goat cheese, herbs and double tomato dressing. The instructions are long, but don’t worry, the individual steps are not too difficult.

Scale

Ingredients

Double tomato dressing

Stacked salad

Instructions

  1. Make the dressing first. In a small bowl, whisk together all the ingredients except for the tomatoes. Gently fold in the tomatoes and let it sit at room temperature while preparing the salad. Stir before serving.
  2. Roast the red bell peppers. Two options: heat a gas grill to high and while the grill is heating, put the whole peppers on the grate, close the lid and cook, turning every couple of minutes, until the peppers are blistered and blackened in most places (about 10 to 12 minutes). OR, using tongs, hold the peppers directly over the flame of a gas stove, turning occasionally, until the peppers are blackened in most places (around 8 minutes). Transfer the peppers to a bowl and cover tightly (with a lid, saran wrap or foil). Let cool for 10 to 20 minutes, then use your fingers to peel the skin away from the peppers. Put the peppers on a cutting board and split them lengthwise (in the direction of the stem/core). If possible, transfer some of the juice from inside the pepper to the bowl of dressing. Gently remove and discard the seeds, but don’t rinse the peppers. Cut the two pieces in half lengthwise again, so you have a total of 8 strips.
  3. Reduce the grill heat to medium. Trim off the ends of the zucchini and and halve them crosswise (through the middle). Stand one piece on end on the cutting board, and trim a sliver from two opposite sides to avoid having slices with a lot of skin. Cut down through the zucchini at 1/4-inch intervals to yield four or five slices per zucchini half. Do the same with the remaining pieces, then brush them generously on both sides with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
  4. Generously brush the slices of bread with olive oil on both sides and sprinkle with salt. Arrange the bread slices and zucchini pieces in a single layer on the grill and close the lid. Grill the bread until golden brown on both sides, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Cook the zucchini until well marked on the first side (3 to 5 minutes), then flip to cook the other side until marked (2 to 3 minutes).
  5. Transfer the zucchini to a plate and cover loosely to retain heat. Rub the grilled bread on both sides with the garlic clove.
  6. Divide the arugula or lettuce leaves maong four plates, scattering them loosely. Sprinkle about 1/3 of the herbs over the lettuce. Top the lettuce with a bread slice in the center of each plate. Top each bread slice with two or three slices of zucchini, placing them at a slight diagonal. Sprinkle half the goat cheese over the zucchini. Cover with a piece of roasted red pepper at a slight diagonal (use the larger strips of pepper, if you have any). Top with another sprinkle of herbs and the remaining goat cheese. Top with the last pieces of zucchini, then the last pieces of roasted pepper, the tomato slices. Spoon an equal amount of dressing around and over each of the “sandwiches” and top with any remaining herbs. Serve immediately.

Notes

▸ Nutrition Information

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.