Pasta Salad with Grilled Vegetables

It’s OK to start grilling vegetables, right? I know technically summer isn’t for another month or so, but I feel like I’ve been in the summer mindset forever – I started grilling in April!

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but it will come as no surprise that I love, love, love Julia Child. I had a phase where I would watch her cooking DVDs every night, even today, I’ll put on her DVDs if I’m feeling stressed out or just need a break. But did you know that Julia Child hated grilled vegetables? She once said “There’s nothing worse than grilled vegetables!” I’m sorry Julia, but I’ll have to disagree with you on that. The grilled vegetables in this Pasta Salad add a nice smokey touch to the dish.

Along with the smokey flavour from grilling the vegetables, the other flavour element of this dish is an amazing Spicy Rosée Sauce made by Maison Le Grand. Usually pasta salad can be a heavy dish, filled with mayonnaise, but using this healthy sauce to bring the dish together was not only really easy, but also delicious.

I don’t know about all of you, but I find vegan/dairy free cooking to be pretty intimidating (confession, I have never cooked with tofu!) and with all the substitutes out there, it almost feels like cooking with your eyes closed. This Spicy Rosée Sauce literally eliminates the fear because Maison Le Grand does it for you – it’s pretty tough to make a delicious dairy-free rosée sauce but Maison Le Grand has cracked the code.

Since I loved the sauces so much, I’m so excited to give one lucky reader a selection of pesto and rosée sauces valued at $50 courtesy of Maison Le Grand.

To enter, leave a comment letting me know what your favourite Maison Le Grand product or which would you like to try?  You can also earn additional entries by filling out the contest widget to increase your chance of winning!

Pasta Salad with Grilled Vegetables (serves 4-6)
Recipe by Lou

Ingredients

1 zucchini, sliced ¼″ thick (roughly 20 rounds)
1 small eggplant, cut into ½′ thick rounds
1 red pepper, cut in 8 pieces
½ cup Maison Le Grand Spicy Rosée Sauce (or any of their rosée sauces)
1 375g box of whole wheat pasta (you can also use your favourite gluten free pasta)

For dressing:

½ cup Maison Le Grand Spicy Rosée Sauce (or any of their rosée sauces)
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
½ tsp lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil

Directions

In a large bowl, toss vegetables with spicy rosée sauce.Cover and refrigerate for an hour.

Meanwhile, prepare your dressing. Whisk spicy rosée sauce with balsamic vinegar and lemon juice. Slowly add olive oil in a steady stream to emulsify.

Cook pasta according to package directions. Toss with half of the dressing mixture.

Preheat grill to medium-low heat. Cook eggplant and peppers for 5 minutes per side. Slice grilled eggplant into long strips, and grilled peppers into bite sized chunks.

Next, cook zucchini for 2 minutes per side. Remove grilled vegetables and add to pasta. Toss with remaining dressing.

Give this Pasta Salad with Grilled Vegetables a try at your next barbecue, you’re vegan friends will thank you!

– Lou

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Disclaimer: I was provided with samples of Maison Le Grand’s line of pestos and rosée sauces. I was not compensated in any other way for writing this post – the decision to write about the product was my own and all opinions are 100% mine.