Grilled Vegetable Caprese
What do you get when you mix grilled summer squash with grilled peppers and onions and a tomato mozzarella salad? An amazing grilled vegetable platter, that’s what. Drizzled with syrupy balsamic and finished with fresh basil, this Grilled Vegetable Tomato Mozzarella Caprese is a delicious summer vegetable salad.
It’s time for grilled vegetable tomato mozzarella caprese. Why? Because it’s mid-summer and the gardens and markets are flooded with tender squash, sweet onions, bell peppers and tomatoes. Therefore, we need summer vegetable recipes that put this bounty to good use.
As a kid, squash and zucchini were my least favorite vegetables (behind eggplant, of course). But I think that’s because we usually had them stewed or simmered to the point where they were nothing but mush. But when flame-kissed on the Weber, grilled summer squash isn’t mushy at all. It’s smoky, tender and all around delicious. So for the grilled vegetable tomato mozzarella caprese, I start with thin planks of zucchini and squash.
Next comes the onions. I’ve always loved grilled onion and would secretly snitch the charred ends for myself. In this grilled vegetable platter, try sweet onions, like Vidalia or Walla Walla.
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PRO TIP: To make the onions easier to handle on the grill (and to prevent them from slipping between the grates — lollipop them. Stick the pointy end of a 6″ skewer through the side of a sliced onion — just to the center point. This will prevent the onion from falling apart into rings and make them a whole lot easier to flip on the grill. Try it.
Lightly brush the vegetables with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper.
Lay the vegetables perpendicular to the grates on the grill — another way to ensure they don’t slip through. For flipping, I like using grilling tongs instead of a spatula. I think of tongs as an extension of my hand — that’s really how they work and it gives you more dexterity to turn and adjust the grilled summer squash as well as grilled peppers and onions.
When the vegetables are tender and have some char marks, transfer the grilled summer vegetables to a platter or sheet pan to rest for a few minutes.
While the vegetables rest, cut the mozzarella into rounds. Now you could simply slice a ball of mozzarella with a knife and that’s perfectly acceptable, but the food blogger in me is all about presentation — so I reach for a small biscuit cutter to make consistently sized and shaped spheres… I know – that sounds very OCD so if you don’t share in my quest for uniformity, this step is completely optional.
Slice several varieties of tomatoes to layer into the grilled vegetable platter. I had some red Roma tomatoes as well as a few heirloom varieties. You can group the vegetables on the platter or layer them like a traditional caprese salad but the idea is to showcase the beautiful colors and grill marks.
Drizzle the grilled vegetable tomato caprese with aged balsamic vinegar of Modena, which is sweet and tangy — and pours more like a syrup than a vinegar.
Trust me, you want this on your grilled vegetables and fresh mozzarella.
Finish with a chiffonade of fresh basil and serve warm or at room temperature. I brought this grilled vegetable tomato mozzarella caprese to a birthday party a few weeks ago and one of the guests got so excited when she saw the bright colors and fresh veg, telling me it was just the way she likes to eat! I’ll call that a win!
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Grilled Vegetable Caprese
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 medium zucchini sliced into 1/4″ thick vertical planks
- 2 medium yellow squash sliced into 1/4″ thick vertical planks
- 2 sweet bell peppers
- 1 large vidalia onion sliced crosswise into 1/4″ thick slices
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- sprinkle salt and pepper
- 1 large heirloom tomato sliced into 1/4″ thick slices
- 2 plum tomatoes sliced into 1/4″ thick slices
- 1 pound fresh mozzarella cheese
- 2 tablespoons aged balsamic vinegar
- 4-5 leaves fresh basil
DIRECTIONS:
- Heat the grill to a medium heat – about 425°-450°.
- Depress a 4″ wooden skewer into the side of the sliced vidalia onion so that it pierces all the interior rings and holds them together like a lollipop (that’s so the onion doesn’t fall apart and slip through the grill grates.)
- Use a sharp knife to trim the top and bottom of the bell peppers so that its hollow when you look through it. Make a slit along one side of the pepper and lay it flat on a cutting board. Trim the ribs and seeds from the pepper and discard.
- Brush the zucchini, squash, peppers and onion with the olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.
- Place the vegetables on the grill and cook for 2-3 minutes on the first side before flipping them and grilling for an additional 2 minutes on the other side. Transfer the grilled vegetables to a sheet pan to rest.
- Slice the mozzarella into 1/4″ slices and if you’d like a more uniform look – use a small 2″ biscuit cutter to cut the mozzarella into rounds. (the leftover bits are for the chef to enjoy).
- Use a medium platter with a rim to layer the vegetables, tomatoes and mozzarella. Drizzle the the aged balsamic.
- Stack the basil leaves on top of one another and roll into a tight “cigar” shape. Thinly slice the basil, crosswise to create a chiffonade and sprinkle over the platter of vegetables. Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled.
- Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled. Can be made several hours before serving, covered and refrigerated.
NUTRITION:
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Ahhh this is genius, I LOVE it! We are big caprese fans, and do a bunch of variations during the summer – last night we added some grilled peaches and heirloom tomatoes, so it was very sweet and summery. Loving the addition of the grilled veggies, perfect for a bbq night.
Straight-up delicious, fantastic flavours, and so much summer-produce goodness – but I have to say I think the thing I love the most is that lollipop onion hack. That’s just perfect!
Holy moly, Lisa! This is such a fab idea! We’re big on Caprese-style *anything* in this house, and we bring that beautiful trip to as many dishes as we can. But I’ve never thought of doing this! What a great way to jazz up your veg side. I can’t wait to try this!
Your grilled vegetables look so good. We’ve made the vegetables in a grill pan but I love the way you’ve made the bigger slices and I do like the mozzarella in a uniform shape. Excellent for a bbq and get together.
I love that you used a biscuit cutter to make the perfect circles! I’ll have to try that and step up my presentation game. Also, the more cheese, the better for me! This is perfect for a summer bbq, it’ll be such a refreshing addition!
What?!! Why don’t all caprese salads have grilled veggies on them? This is brilliant! I always feel like I’m mostly eating cheese when I eat caprese, but the proportions on your salad seem so much better!
There are so many great things about this post, I don’t even know where to start. First, omg, onion lollipops! Genius! I just absolutely love the idea! So Smart! And I love your OCD-ness of cutting the mozzarella. So cute! The salad looks fantastic and so delicious!
I can relate to the whole veggies as a kid thing. I don’t remember squash but my parents idea of vegetables was supermarket canned veggies. Bleh, soft and tasteless. Your grilled vegetables with the mozzarella looks amazing and I’m sure I would eat that as a skeptical kid back in the day:) Saving this, what a great way to prepare farmers market veggies, thanks for sharing this!
Made this last night as go-with for fresh grouper. It was perfect! We entertain a lot and I like to spend maximum time with my guests, not in the kitchen. I grilled the vegetables mid-day and held them till we were ready to eat. I warmed them to luke-warm in the oven then layered with the chilled mozarella and room temp tomatoes. A light drizzle of olive oil and the balsamic made for a picture perfect and most delicious dish! GREAT dish, Lisa!
Glad you liked it! Thanks for sharing
This looks like a great BBQ party recipe. Love grilled veggies. The flavours here are amazing. I know this would be a crowd pleaser for sure. The perfect side to any protein. A great way to use all the fresh garden veggies. Time to head to the market. I am hosting 2 parties this weekend. This might have to be one of the sides!!
Oh my goodness, what a perfect summer recipe! There is just nothing like the flavor combo of mozz and balsamic, but I love that you add the zucchini and peppers here, with a little smokiness from the grill. YUM!
such a stunning salad! and it sounds so yummy! can’t wait to make this!
what a great idea during the hot weather to grill veggies. I always roast them and turn on that hot oven! This is genius!
What a tasty appetizer. This is perfect for summer!