Stay warm with this smoky vegetable warm salad. Grilled zucchini, sweet carrot and crispy broccoli, charred outside and firm inside is perfectly paired with fresh basil pesto and toasted cashews. The delicious and nutritious salad can be served any season.
Most likely, you already know how much I like Pesto sauce. This is another one quick and easy recipe from my Pesto recipes collection.
In this post, you’ll learn the secrets of cooking your veggies ‘al dente’, giving them a great texture and flavour, while keeping all of their vitamins.
Ingredients
2 Serves
- 3 medium-sized zucchini, diagonally sliced
- 1 medium-sized carrot, peeled, diagonally sliced
- 1/2 broccoli head, cut into florets
- 1 cup raw cashew
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup homemade Pesto sauce
- Maldon salt
- black pepper
Directions
- In a heavy-bottomed skillet, spread the cashew nuts out in an even layer and heat over medium, shaking often – don’t overcrowd your nuts. Keep stirring or shaking for about 5 minutes, or until nuts are fragrant and browned.
- Preheat dry cast iron skillet/grill pan/BBQ grill plate over high heat until very hot, add vegetables and cook them without oil, stirring occasionally. Cook until the edges of the veggies will be slightly charred. Turn down the heat to medium-low. Drizzle veggies with some olive oil, mix well and cook for about 3 minutes. Depending on the size of your pan you may need to cook the vegetables in batches. This cooking method suitable for cast iron skillet only. Please don’t try this method using non-stick pan, the overheated non-stick coating can begin to release toxins.
- Transfer charred vegetables into a salad bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add pesto and toss gently. Sprinkle with toasted cashew nuts. Serve warm. Enjoy!
