Thursday, May 30, 2019

Grilled Vegetable Pasta Salad with Marinated Grilled Drumsticks





The first thing I noticed when I awoke Memorial Day was the silence. There was no traffic noise with neighbors leaving for work, no lawn mowers, no barking dogs, just quiet. Nice! I knew that our nearby downtown area was already teeming with tourists.

We had previously decided we were going to break out our grill for the season. And we decided we were going to grill chicken and vegetables. The day remained relatively quiet. I guess our neighbors had left town for the holiday weekend, while thousands of tourists were pouring in.

Pritchard Parker did the grocery shopping. He chose chicken legs and marinated them overnight in olive oil, soy sauce, garlic, lime juice, paprika, and salt and pepper. They were outstanding! He also bought the vegetables I wanted--corn, zucchini, onions, red bell pepper, jalapeno, garlic, limes, and parsley.

We don't have a fancy, modern grill that involves turning a knob. We have an old school charcoal grill. While Pritchard Parker was getting the fire ready, I prepped the vegetables. While they cooked, I put on the pasta and made a dressing. While the chicken was cooking, I finished the salad, and we were ready to eat.

Delicious!






Grilled Vegetable Pasta Salad
8 oz. elbow macaroni, cooked according to package directions
3 medium zucchini, sliced in half lengthwise
1 red bell pepper, cored and cut in half
3 ears sweet corn, husks removed
2 Vidalia onions, cut in half horizontally, stems left in place
1 whole head of garlic
2 jalapeno peppers, sliced in half lengthwise, membranes removed
1 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 bunch parsley, chopped
Juice of 2 limes (approx. 1/4 cup)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp. maple syrup or honey

Rub the zucchini, bell pepper, corn, onion, and jalapeno peppers with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Slice the top off the garlic, drizzle with olive oil, and wrap in aluminum foil. Grill vegetables until tender and slightly charred.

Cut grilled vegetables into bite-sized pieces and combine with pasta. Squeeze in whole garlic cloves.
Sprinkle liberally with parsley.

Whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, and maple syrup. Pour over salad and toss to combine, adding salt and pepper to taste.





4 comments:

  1. Love grilling season! Chicken is one of our favorites. And that salad is a good side for it. Nice recipe -- thanks.

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    1. We love grilling season too. This dinner was fun to put together. Thanks for your comment, Rocquie

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  2. That looks like summer on a plate! I love the idea of grilled veggies in the salad.

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    1. Melynda, we needed a summery meal--we were having a rare heat wave for this early in the season. Grilling the vegetables for the salad worked out well. Thank you for commenting, Rocquie

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