Chargrilled vegetable salad

• red peppers↗2 2
• olive oil↗3 tbsp tbsp
• red wine vinegar↗1 tbsp tbsp
• small garlic clove↗1 1

  crushed

• red chilli↗1 1

  deseeded, finely chopped

• aubergine↗1 1

  cut into 1cm rounds

• red onions↗2 2

  sliced about 1.5cm thick but kept as whole slices

• plump sundried tomatoes↗6 6

  in oil, drained and torn into strips

• handful black olives↗
• large handful basil↗

  roughly torn

Step-by-step instructions

1. 1

   First, blacken the peppers all over – do this directly over a flame, over hot coals or under a hot grill. When completely blackened, put them in a bowl, cover with a plate and leave to cool.

2. 2

   While the peppers are cooling, mix the oil, vinegar, garlic and chilli in a large bowl. On a hot barbecue or griddle pan, chargrill the aubergine, courgette and onions in batches until they have defined grill marks on both sides and are starting to soften. The time will depend on the intensity of your grill, so use your judgement – courgettes and red onions are fine still slightly crunchy but you want the aubergine cooked all the way through. As the vegetables are ready, put them straight into the dressing to marinate, breaking the onions up into rings.

3. 3

   When the peppers are cool enough to handle, peel, remove the stalk and scrape out the seeds. Cut into strips and toss through the veg with any juice from the bowl. Mix in the tomatoes, olives, basil and seasoning. Drizzle with more oil, if you like, and serve either on its own or with mozzarella or crumbled feta.