Title: Grilled Garden Bounty Vegetable & Rice Platter
Categories: Salad Main
Yield: 8 Servings

3/4	c	Each wild rice and long- grain brown rice
4	md	Zucchini, cut diagonally into 1/2" thick slices
6	lg	Ears corn
4	md	Unpeeled red onions, halved lengthwise
4	lg	Asian eggplant, halved lengthwise
8	lg	Fresh shiitake mushrooms
8		Boiled 2"-diameter red or purple potatoes, halved
5	lg	Red or yellow bell peppers
		Salt and pepper
2	c	Yellow or red pear-shaped or cherry tomatoes
		Fresh fennel or basil sprigs

Pour wild rice into a fine strainer and rinse well. In a 5 to 6 quart pan, bring 2 quarts water to a boil. Add wild and brown rice. Cover and simmer until both rices are tender to bite, 40 to 45 minutes. Drain well.

Scatter 10 briquets over a solid bed of about 70 hot coals (you can hold your hand at grill level only 2 to 3 seconds). Place grill 4 to 6 inches above coals. If desired, run thin wooden skewers through zucchini slices to hold flat. Place zucchini, corn, and onions on grill. Cook turning vegetables often. After corn cooks about 5 minutes, pull down husks and remove silk. Continue grilling corn until lightly browned, about 10 minutes more. Cook zucchini until lightly browned on both sides, about 10 minutes.

As you remove zucchini and corn, add eggplant, mushrooms, potatoes and 4 of the peppers. Cook and turn vegetables until mushrooms and potatoes are lightly browned, about 15 minutes toatol. Peppers are browned and soft when pressed, 15 to 20 mintues. Eggplant are darkly browned and very soft when pressed, 15 to 25 minutes, and onions are somewhat soft, abour 30 minutes. As vegetables are done, remove from grill and set aside. Halve and seed grilled peppers.

Cut kernels off 5 ears of corn. Add to rice. Stem, seed and dice remaining raw bell pepper. To rice, add 1 1/2 cups herb dressing (recipe follows), diced pepper, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well (if preparing ahead, cover and let stand at room temperature up to 2 hours or chill up to 1 day, stirring occasionally).

Mound rice salad on a large platter. Surround with grilled vegetables and drizzle with any remaining dressing. Garnish with remaining ear of corn, tomatoes and fennel or basil sprigs, if desired.

Herb Dressing: Mix 1 1/3 cups balsamic vinegar, 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/2 cup thinly sliced garlic chives (or plain chives and 1 clove garlic, pressed), 1/2 cup chopped shallots, 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil or 3 tb dried basil, 1 1/2 tb fresh lemon thyme (or regular thyme), 1 tb chopped fresh oregano or 1 ts dried oregano, and 1 ts chopped fresh rosemary or 1/2 ts crumbled dried rosemary. Makes about 2 cups.

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