Weekly Recipe: Vegetable Salad with Yogurt Cucumber Dressing

Vegetable Salad with Yogurt Cucumber Dressing
by:  Art Smith

Ingredients

1 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, preferably white balsamic
1 garlic clove, crushed through a press
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, grated and squeezed to remove excess moisture
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives (I subbed dried dill)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
pinch of cayenne
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing the vegetables (or olive oil in a spray bottle)
1 pound asparagus, trimmed
2 medium zucchini, cut lengthwise into 1/2 inch thick slices (I only used one)
1 medium yellow squash, cut lengthwise into 1/2 inch thick slices
1 medium globe eggplant or 2 medium Japanese eggplants, cut lengthwise into 3/4 inch thick slices (I omitted)
2 medium red bell peppers (or use 1 red and 1 yellow pepper), tops and bottoms trimmed, flesh opened into one long strip, ribs and seeds removed (I only used one)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 cups assorted greens (preferably a combination of baby spinach, stemmed watercress, Bibb lettuce and Belgian endive leaves)
1 pint grape tomatoes (I only used about 1 cup)
chopped fresh chives, for garnish

DIRECTIONS

Process the yogurt, buttermilk, mustard, vinegar and garlic in a food processor until smooth. Add the cucumber and chives and pulse to combine. Season to taste with salt, pepper and cayenne. Cover and refrigerate. (The dressing can be made up to 2 days ahead, covered and refrigerated.)

Build a charcoal fire in an outdoor grill and let it burn until the coals are covered with white ashes. For a gas grill, preheat on high. Lightly oil the grill grate.

Brush the asparagus, zucchini, yellow squash and eggplant with the oil (or spray with oil in a spray bottle). In batches, grill the vegetables, removing them from the grill as they are cooked. Place the asparagus on the grill across the grill grate, so they don't fall through. Grill, rolling the asparagus on the grill to turn, until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes, depending on the size of the spears. Grill the zucchini, yellow squash and eggplant, turning once, until tender, about 8 minutes. Grill the peppers until the skin is charred and blistered, about 10 minutes. Cool, then peel.

Cool the vegetables. Chop into bite-size pieces and season to taste with salt and pepper. You may keep the vegetables separate, or mix them together.

Arrange the greens on a large platter. Arrange the vegetables in separate mounds on the greens (or mound the mixed greens in the center). Surround with the tomatoes and sprinkle with chives. Serve immediately, with the dressing passed on the side.