Cheese, sauce elevate chicken, veggies

Tossing some chicken and vegetables on the grill and calling it dinner is a perfectly fine summer meal strategy, but it doesn’t exactly elicit ooohs and ahhhs. But there is a way to pull those familiar elements together for a gorgeous presentation packed with multiple layers of savory flavor.

It is called Grilled Chicken and Vegetable Mozzarella Melts.

The infusion of allure starts with a marinade for the chicken, an Italian-dressing-style mix of olive oil, vinegar, garlic and dried oregano. Just a 30-minute marinade is needed, but it can go for up to eight hours for more-intense flavor and do-ahead convenience. Once grilled, the chicken becomes the platform upon which the other ingredients are piled high.

A spread of marinara sauce goes on first, followed by an array of colorful grilled vegetables. Here, I used eggplant, red bell pepper and onion. But other vegetable combinations are welcome to the party — mushrooms, asparagus and zucchini, to name a few.

Blanketing the vegetables, and bringing the dish together, is a melted layer of fresh, luscious mozzarella. And finally, some fresh basil adds a summery note as well as a bright pop of color. These tasty towers don’t take much more effort than the usual grilled chicken and vegetables, but with each bite brimming with so much flavor, they are far more thrilling.

To make the four servings indicated, only half of each vegetable is needed, but, while you are at it, you should grill all the vegetables at once — the extra vegetables will keep for several days and can be added to sandwiches, grain bowls or salads.