ADA’s Grilled Summer Veggies With Herb Dressing

Hands grilling fresh vegetables on a charcoal grill, perfect for a summer picnic outdoors.

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This side dish is from the American Diabetes Association’s Diabetes Food Hub — the Grilled Summer Veggies with Herb Dressing recipe, which the ADA also features as one of its picks in its own grilling guide. This is general information about ingredient choices, not medical or nutrition advice — individual carbohydrate targets and dietary needs vary, and anyone managing diabetes should follow guidance from their own doctor or a registered dietitian.

The ADA’s own summary calls it “a delightful and healthy side dish perfect for summer,” adding that it’s “a great option for people with diabetes and is both vegetarian and vegan-friendly.”

Ingredients

For the vegetables

  • 2 medium zucchini, sliced
  • 1 medium red bell pepper, sliced
  • 1 medium yellow bell pepper, sliced
  • 1 medium red onion, sliced into rings
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided

For the herb dressing

  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Method

  1. Preheat the grill to medium-high heat.
  2. In a large bowl, toss the sliced zucchini, bell peppers, red onion rings, and halved cherry tomatoes with the olive oil. Season with the salt and 1/2 teaspoon of the black pepper.
  3. Grill the vegetables for about 10 minutes, turning occasionally, until tender and marked with grill lines.
  4. Remove from the heat.
  5. For the dressing, whisk together the extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, minced garlic, chopped basil, chopped parsley, thyme leaves, salt, and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon black pepper.
  6. Arrange the grilled vegetables on a serving platter and serve the dressing on the side.

Why It Fits the Non-Starchy Half of the Plate

Zucchini, bell peppers, onion, and cherry tomatoes are all in the non-starchy vegetable category that the ADA and CDC both point to for half a plate under their Diabetes Plate method. Per the ADA’s published nutrition figures, one serving (6 servings total, each 1 cup of vegetables plus 1 tablespoon of dressing) has 160 calories, 14g total fat, 2g saturated fat, 9g total carbohydrate, 2g dietary fiber, 5g total sugars, and 0g added sugars, with 2g protein. Nearly all of that fat comes from the two measures of olive oil in the vegetables and the dressing, rather than from the vegetables themselves — a detail worth knowing if a lower-fat version of the dressing is preferred.

Why It’s Grilled Directly, Not Indirectly

The ADA’s grilling guide distinguishes between direct heat, where food sits right over the flame, and indirect heat, where the heat source is kept to one side for slower cooking. It specifically names vegetables as one of the foods “best for direct heat grilling,” since they cook quickly and benefit from the char that comes with sitting close to the heat — which matches this recipe’s roughly 10-minute grill time for sliced zucchini, peppers, onion, and tomatoes. The same guide also recommends leaving space between pieces on the grate so air can circulate, which helps vegetables sear rather than steam.

Serving It at a Cookout

Because the vegetables and dressing are kept separate until serving, this dish travels well to a backyard cookout and holds up better than a pre-dressed salad sitting out in the heat — the dressing can be spooned on close to serving time rather than soaking in from the start. It’s built to sit alongside a grilled lean protein — the ADA lists it among the grilling recipes in its own summer grilling guide, alongside options like grilled chicken and grilled shrimp — which is the same protein-quarter pairing described in the ADA’s Diabetes Plate method. Filling half the plate with a mix like this one, rather than a single vegetable, also means more color and variety land in that half without changing the basic portioning.

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