I kind of didn’t want to eat my dinner tonight, it looked so pretty. Ah, who am I kidding…I paused for approximately 2 seconds before diving into my party in a bowl – a Grilled Vegetable Salad!
Look at those colors – gawgeous!
Believe it or not, this salad came together in no time, and clean up was nearly nil since I used my grill for the cooking. I started with this mammoth zucchini.
Plucked straight from my Mom’s garden!
I sliced her up about 1 inch wide, along with this sweet candy onion I got from the Farmer’s Market.
I really wanted to caramelize it for something this week, but decided to spare you all from my manic, increasingly increasing, onion caramelizing charades!
Into the grill basket (no seasoning or oil needed,)
on goes the lid,
and to the grill we go!
The veggies took about 3-4 minutes per side, and I let some Farmer’s Market-fresh Iowa Sweet Corn grill away on the side.
Same as the veggies – no oil or seasoning needed. Just the kiss of the grill is all you need to flavor these bad boys up. 
The corn only needed ~2 minutes per side so I brought them in, while the veggies finished grilling, to cut the kernels off the cob.
I lay my cobs down on a cutting board and, keeping my knife tip on the board, cut down the length of the cob.
Continue until you’ve gotten all the way around. Easiest way I know! 
Ok, I spared you from seeing those caramelized onions again – but not from reduced balsamic glaze – muwhahaha!
I thought the sweet flavor of the reduced vinegar would taste fantastic when paired with the smoky veggies.
Tip: The balsamic vinegar continues to thicken a little bit after you turn off the heat, so your burner off a bit short of when you think you should!
Finally, the veggies had come off the grill, the corn had been cut off the cob, and the balsamic glaze had cooled.
I divvied out the lettuce from this Dole Perfect Harvest Kit,
complete with Apple Cider Dijon Vinaigrette, dried cranberries, diced almonds and mixed greens,
assembled and DUG IN!
WOW!!!!!!!! Charred zucchini,
sweet corn,
SWEET onion (seriously, candy sweet!)
and fresh tomatoes (also from the Farmer’s Market!)
This salad is the new salad to compare all others to, imo! The thing that took it over the top? The glaze drizzle. The glaze drizzle, I say!
I never understood how people would make a dessert and top it with balsamic vinegar glaze. "It’s not going to be sweet enough!" I’d always say to myself. But it is! Tangy vinegar turns into a syrupy, perfectly sweet glaze! Now if we can just figure out how to turn water into wine… 
Oofta, I am full! I still can’t get over the lingering sweetness in my mouth from all the yummy, caramelized flavahs in this salad. Mmm!!! I shall be savoring all night.
In the meantime, I think I’m going to go bike to the library to pick out a few new books. I finally finished Laura Bush’s memoirs (AWESOME) and Prep (awesome) so I’m ready to start tackling all the suggestions you guys gave me last month!
See ya!
~~~~~
Do you like salads? Ever eat them for dinner, or just for lunch? What are your favorite combos/toppings?
I love roasted veggies on a salad. Even better with balsamic. YUM!
I love grilled corn and onions. That sounds so good!
i can’t get over how vibrant and colorful your salads are. they always POP….once i was reading your blog post and my mom saw the computer screen, which had one of your salads on there and she stops and say “wow…..i want that!!!!”
salads are something i have to be in the mood for. hahaha. probably because the ones i make are very boring and look nothing like yours!
Ohh… I have a zuchini and that looks like a great way to prepare it!
I love salads! Mine have been terribly BASIC this week!
Today I ended up eating the chicken and grapes off the top and tossing the rest. Boo!! I tried to eat it but I am just not a iceberg kind of gal!
I want your salad!
Holy cow, GORGEOUS salad!! I love, love, love caramelized onions, so maybe I’ll have to follow your lead and jazz up my salads
I LOVE salads and eat them sometimes for breakfast, lunch AND dinner. Yours looks excellent! I wish I had an outdoor grill but may try to copy on the george foreman…My fave combo is grapefruit, avocado, gorgonzola, beets, and onions.
This looks awesome!! Grilled corn and zucchini are two of my faves!
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Kristin, Diet Tammi. Diet Tammi said: RT @iowagirleats: The Salad to Compare All Salads To http://tinyurl.com/39gckqs [...]
Rachel Ray showed a really cool way to get corn off the cob..
I tried it too and it worked pretty slick.
she took one big bowl and one smaller one flipped upside down inside the big bowl..and then balanced the cob on top of the little bowl holding the cob vertically and sliced downwards letting all the kernels fall into the big bowl! Not a kernel lost!
That salad looks amazing! Have you ever tried Texas Caviar? It’s in every Iowa church cookbook so you’ll definitely have to check it out. It’s my staple along with fresh greens almost daily in the summer. I love salads and I eat one every day!
Check out the Beanis dip recipe on this site
It’s pretty similar.
Seriously – this is one FANTASTIC looking salad!! It makes me miss summer bbqs!
That is a creative salad. When I try to be creative, a lot of times it really doesn’t work out so great! I love salads, but I love pretty much all food, so I end up eating salads three or four times a week. I’m trying to eat more of them and cut back on meat, though! My favorite salad is the Cranberry Walnut Salad at Gateway Market in Des Moines (dried cranberries, glazed nuts, mixed greens, gorgonzola, a bit of onion, vinaigrette). They will add chicken if requested. Simple but GOOOOD!!
I love salads for dinner, but I usually put some protein in it. The best salad my man likes? A taco salad. It’s an easy version: lettuce, tortilla chips (crushed), shredded cheese, tossed with sour cream and salsa. Of course you can add so much more to this: avocado, bacon, tomato, olives – but it’s so good for a night where you have nothing in your fridge!
Taco salad is the type I make most often, too. So easy to make!
this look ssooo good. however i have to pass along some info i heard and will let you make your own judgement. I have heard really bad things about the bagged lettuce. i was so sad when i heard because they are sooo convenient! but someone we know who owns a produce company said he would not eat them because of all the things/ sprayed added to them.
just thought this was interesting
Grilled Veggie Salads are my favorite kind. Here is a great idea though, next time try adding grilled stone fruits (like peaches or pineapple or nectarines) The balance of grilled veggies and grilled fruits are incredible in a salad!!
That looks awesome! I loved grilled zucchini!
I have that same knife, but in blue. It’s the BEST knife! I love it!
Roasted veggies are unbeatable – love that you don’t need any seasoning or sauce. I bet that made one kick-azz salad!
Grilled veggies are perfect on all sorts of things. And I love balsamic glaze but I have to be careful not to put my nose to close while it cooks.
Salads for dinner in the summertime are always fulfilling! The best salad combo I’ve had recently is a ravioli topped salad. It was epic!
The only way to get my mind off the Blueberry-Sweet Corn Salad…present with and even better salad! This looks incredible. I am obsessed with grilled veggies and they make the perfect addition to this mix.
I really love salad, but I’m not usually and entree salad kinda girl. I can do salad for lunch and I love side salads, but dinner salads don’t usually cut it – unless of course, they look like this!
I always judge the quality of my salads by the color variety. Yours gets an A+. Look at all that color!
Of course, taste matters too, but from the sounds of it, this salad has good flavor covered as well.
I’m pretty sure I could eat salads for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I love cottage cheese and hummus for toppings/dressings.
Do I like salads!? Heck yes, one of my top fav foods! That balsamic reduction is gorg!!
I swear I licked my monitor! Love salads!
even though i dont know what this tastes like, i agree. this is prob the best salad ever. nothing beats grilled veggies!!
I had a really weird realization last week that I hadn’t had a salad in more than 24 hours. That never happens! I love salads, mostly because they are so fresh and the options are endless. My favorite add-in is always corn and I love hummus (hommus) instead of dressing! Last year I also got in the habit of throwing in a few shredded wheat bits instead of croutons. Works surprisingly well!
Beautiful salad. I totally love adding fruit to my salad, especially pears. The sweet crunch gives the best flavor. I haven’t tried this bag salad with all the things already added, but will definitely be checking it out.
That looks SOOO good!! I totally want to make that!
Mmm, I love salads when they are HUGE and fill me up! Never made a grilled veg salad, but this looks to die for! I love Mexican-style salads with black beans, corn, salsa, guac… mmm, mm.
xo
Kris
Stop it! My wallet can’t keep up with your delicious recipes. I need to find a good farmers market to save some money on veggies. This one looks like a good one, but I don’t have the veggie griller. Where did you get it?
Roasting or grilling is the way to go! That salad looks delish!
I LOVE salads. I could eat them 24/7 365 days a year, and I almost do
Love this one too, I must try it!
What an amazing looking salad! I love balsamic vinegar and so have to make it into a glaze, never tried that before (myself). YUM!
There is nothing better than grilled corn! Especially when you slice the “slabs” right off the cop and get those nice chunky sweet clumps. Heaven!
I love salads & eat them probably at least 4 times a week for dinner! I try to change up the salad dressing, but I typically have grilled chicken on there, peas & hard-boiled eggs. Oh, & I MUST have a crouton (or part of one) for every bite! I’d been thinking about cooking up some sweet corn & adding it, too. Sometimes I mix BBQ sauce & ranch dressing on my salad for something different. I’ve also heard of mixing salsa & ranch for a southwest flavor.
Oh, I forgot to mention – my mom got me a little gadget for Xmas (I think it was one of those “as seen on TV” things) that removes the kernels from corn on the cob for you. It’s really slick. You just hold it in your hand & run it up the side of the ear of corn & the kernels collect in a little holding bin on the inside of the contraption. (I just looked it up online. It can be found on Amazon. It’s called the Oxo Good Grips Corn Stripper.)
Book recommendation: Check out “The Glass Castle: A Memoir” by Jeanette Wells. Uh-MAY-zing!
This has totally been the summer of salads for me. I have topped my spinach with everything from roasted veggies, to beets/goat cheese/red onion, to veggie burgers, steak tips and my favorite the taco salad with ground turkey, taco seasoning, avocado, corn, and black beans! yum yum
Balsamic reduction is amazing on dessert! Always surprises me!
I had that same Dole Perfect Harvest Kit tonight! It was delish!
Oh My that salad looks amazing!!! I often eat mine for lunch, and most of the time they include A lOT of stuff; spinach, peppers, tomatoes, corn, zucchini, cucumber, avocado, broccoli, cauliflower and sometimes peas. I love putting corn in my salads. My co-workers look at me like I have 2 heads when I do, but I tell them to try it… life changing!