Grilled vegetables with yoghurt and tahini sauce

These grilled vegetables served with two sauces—warm tomato sauce and cool yoghurt sauce—are the best side dishes this summer. Accompany them with a white aromatic wine or an ouzo.

Materials

400g potatoes
Four green peppers
Three eggplants
Five large zucchinis, cleaned
Three large tomatoes
One grated onion
One glass of chopped tomato
2 cups of extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. tomato paste
Salt Pepper

For the yoghurt sauce

250g Greek strained yoghurt
50g tahini
One pinch of cumin
juice of 1 lemon
salt

Procedure

Step 1

Cut the eggplants into thick slices, salt them well and put them in a colander. Leave them for half an hour so they lose their bitterness, rinse them with plenty of cold water and wring them out. Preheat the oven to 170°C.

Step 2

Clean the potatoes and cut them into thin slices. Remove the stem and seeds from the peppers and cut them into quarters. Cut the tomatoes into slices and the zucchinis into thick slices.

Step 3

Take the large oven tray, spread all your ingredients in it, and brush them with half of the olive oil with a brush. Salt them lightly, and bake them in the oven for about 1 hour until they are well cooked.

Step 4

While they are baking, prepare a light tomato sauce: Pour the remaining olive oil into a saucepan and sauté the grated onion. Pour the chopped tomato and dissolve the tomato paste in a glass of water. Season with salt and pepper and simmer the sauce until half is left.

Step 5

Remove the baked vegetables from the oven. Take a large plate and put the baked potatoes first. Pour a few tablespoons of tomato sauce on top, continue with the eggplants, always pouring a little sauce, then with the zucchinis and the roasted peppers. Finally, add the baked tomato slices.

Step 6

Prepare the yoghurt sauce: Pour the yoghurt into a bowl, add the tahini and mix well. Add cumin, salt and lemon juice. Stir and serve the mixture in a bowl next to the plate with the vegetables. The food is eaten very pleasantly and cold.

Ilias Mamalakis is a columnist for Cantina. Translated by Paul Antonopoulos.

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