Smoked Chicken and Grilled Vegetable Salad with Ginger Vinaigrette Recipe

(Salade de Légumes Grillés Au Gingembre et Volaille Mi-Fumée.)

Serves 10.

INGREDIENTS

for ginger vinaigrette

a 2-inch piece fresh gingerroot

2 1/2 tablespoons sherry vinegar or red-wine vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

a scant 1/2 cup walnut oil or extra-virgin olive oil
for salad

5 medium vine-ripened tomatoes

3 medium zucchini

5 medium carrots

9 bell peppers in assorted colors

1 large eggplant

1 1/4 cups olive oil

3 pounds smoked chicken breats

1 1/4 pounds mesclun

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

Make Vinaigrette:
Peel gingerroot and finely grate. In a small bowl whisk together gingerroot, vinegar, sugar, cayenne, and salt and pepper to taste and add oil in a slow stream, whisking until emulsified. Chill vinaigrette, covered, at least 12 hours, and up to a day.

Make Salad:
Prepare grill.
Quarter tomatoes and seed. Cut zucchini and carrots diagonally into long thin slices. Standing each bell pepper stem end up, cut away sides to make flat pieces and halve each piece diagonally. Cut eggplant crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. In a large bowl combine cut vegetables with 1 cup olive oil and salt and pepper to taste, tossing to coat.

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Grill vegetables in batches on a rack set 5 to 6 inches over glowing coals until marked but not tender, 3 to 5 minutes. On large baking sheets roast grilled vegetables in batches in middle of oven 5 minutes, or until tender, transferring to paper towels to drain. Vegetables may be prepared 1 day ahead and chilled in large bowl, covered. Bring vegetables to room temperature before serving.

Discard chicken skin and cut meat into thin slices. In a large bowl toss mesclun, grilled vegetables, and chicken among 10 plates and drizzle with vinaigrette.

Tags: Chicken, Ginger, Grilled, Salad, Smoked, Vegetable, Vinaigrette