Recipe: Roasted Vegetables with Grapefruit "Zesto" and Fennel Grapefruit Salad

For New Year's eve, we were at a friend's place for dinner and toasting 2009.  They were serving mainly seafood - cracked crab claws and lobster with a spicy, citrus-y dipping sauce, oysters, shrimp cocktail, and sushi and sashimi.  So we brought two vegetarian dishes in the hopes of complementing the seafood with some citrus flavors.

Roasted Vegetables with Grapefruit “Zesto” for 8

I call it grapefruit “zesto” because it’s kind of like a pesto of grapefruit zest : ).

3 medium Japanese eggplants, halved lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/2” pieces
3 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2”-thick rounds
1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1/2”-inch pieces1 large yellow bell pepper, cut into 1/2”-inch pieces
1 large red onion, peeled, root end left intact, cut into 1/2”-thick wedges
1/4 Cup raw artichoke pate
1/4 Cup yuzu rice vinegar
1/4 Cup vegetable stock
1 bunch chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons minced grapefruit zest
2 teaspoons minced garlic
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 475°F.  Place eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers, and onion in a large bowl.  Season with salt and pepper and toss well with raw artichoke pate and yuzu rice vinegar.  Arrange vegetables in a roasting pan and pour vegetable stock over.  Roast until tender, about 30 minutes.

In the large bowl you were using before, toss the now-roasted vegetables with the parsley, grapefruit zest, and garlic; if needed, season with additional salt and pepper.  You can either serve the vegetables in the large bowl or transfer them to a platter.

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Fennel Grapefruit Salad for 8

Dressing:
2 tablespoons Champagne vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Salad:
1 head Belgian endive, halved lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1" thick strips
1 head treviso - save 8 leaves for decorating and then halve lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1" thick strips
1 head butter lettuce, leaves torn
1 cup fresh fennel bulb, tough bottom stem portion and upper green portions trimmed, cut lengthwise into 3-4 sections depending on width, then sliced thinly using a mandoline
3 small pink or 2 large ruby red grapefruits, sectioned

Whisk the dressing ingredients in a large bowl, then add all the salad ingredients except for the grapefruit sections and saved treviso leaves and toss to coat. Top with grapefruit sections. Stick the treviso leaves lengthwise around the edges of the salad.  Optional: top with one ounce shaved parmigiano reggiano.