Grilled Ratatouille Salad | In Season

It’s so easy to get ratatouille wrong. The main culprit is undercooked eggplant; the primary accomplice is a thin, watery sauce. You know what I mean. Picture that squeaky chunk of wet eggplant and think, Why is this woman trying to ruin my appetite in her food column?

It’s because I have a solution, dear reader! And not only does this ratatouille variation solve these problems, it also takes the cooking out of your kitchen and onto the grill, which is a relief this time of year. (Side note: ratatouille is a braised summer vegetable dish from the south of France. How hot is that French kitchen on ratatouille day?)

The solution is to caramelize all the vegetables (except the tomatoes) over the direct heat of a grill before topping them with an herby, garlicky dressing that evokes pesto (or pistou, as the French call it) but with a lemony edge and a dash of honey. I promise you’ll love it. And if you want to turn it into something more substantial, you can always add slices of fresh mozzarella and serve it with a nice baguette. Bon appétit!

Grilled Ratatouille Salad with Lemony Herb Dressing

Amy Traverso

Amy Traverso is the senior food editor at Yankee and cohost of the public television series Weekends with Yankee, a coproduction with GBH. Previously, she was food editor at Boston magazine and an associate food editor at Sunset magazine. Her work has also been published in The Boston Globe, Saveur, and Travel & Leisure, and she has appeared on Hallmark Home & Family, The Martha Stewart Show, Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. Amy is the author of The Apple Lover’s Cookbook, which was a finalist for the Julia Child Award for best first-time author and won an IACP Cookbook Award in the “American” category.

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