Grilled Marinated Vegetables - Italian Style

Grilled marinated vegetables is one of those dishes that is simple yet stunningly delicious. With these sorts of recipes, I always wonder who first discovered this incredible combination; grill vegetables, dust with salt, red wine vinegar, a dash of olive oil and some chopped basil and allow to marinated for at least 2 hours. Rather than creating a vinaigrette the liquids soak into the veggies and render them even sweeter and more distinctively squash or mushroom or onion like. Astounding!

I first read this particular recipe in Mario Batali's latest cookbook (already lauded here) and while I left out the red pepper flakes in consideration of my particular dining companions, I'm sure it's just as good with them!
With cookout season upon us in the Northern Hemisphere, here's the perfect way to use up those enormous zucchini taking over your garden or a chance to stay out of the kitchen for a couple of nights by making lots of these lovelies. I put some extra squash to cook on the grill while we were eating and had lots leftover for lunches and snacks. I used patty pan squash and sliced them in disks, but onions, portabella mushrooms, and eggplant are great candidates as well.  Experiment!

Grilled Marinated Vegetables - Italian Style

5 patty pan squash, sliced 1/2 inch disks
olive oil to brush on vegetables
10 fresh basil leaves, cut in strips
1-2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1-2 teaspoons olive oil
salt

Prepare grill for cooking. If using charcoal, wait until coals are completely white. Dab olive on one disk, smear it on another slice of squash and place squash oiled side down on grill and cook until tender and nicely browned. Cook all slices in similar fashion. Place squash in dish able to contain all slices in no more than two layers. Sprinkle salt over first layer, splash little vinegar, little olive oil and half of basil. Repeat for second layer and cover with plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. Eat cold or at room temperature.

Hugs!

Recipes currently inspiring me:
Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie with Walnuts at Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice
Shrimp and Minty Garlic Orzo at Once Upon A Feast - Every Kitchen Tells its Stories
Sweet Corn and Wild Mushroom Soup at Eats Well With Others