Veggies are the very best in Tennessee in the summer. Anything you want can be had with great sale prices. And the heat that makes those veggies grow so big so fast is the same heat that drives us toward cold food. No one wants to heat up the house if they can help it. So, how about a cold salad of summer veggies?
My husband and I put together our church’s cookbook when I was pregnant with my daughter. I didn’t have cravings like normal though. I craved whatever recipe I was editing; so, it might be a dessert one night and an appetizer the next.
There were even a few recipes without contributors noted which my neighbor and I tested and then included if we liked them. This one passed our test! (If anyone recognizes where this came from, please let me know. I like to give credit where credit is due.)
Yellow Squash Salad
- 5 medium yellow squash, thinly sliced
- ½ c onion, diced
- ½ c celery, diced
- ½ c red bell pepper, diced
- 1/3 c oil (I used lite olive oil)
- 2/3 c apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp salt
- ¾ tsp pepper
- ½ c sugar
- 1 clove garlic, minced (I used ¼ tsp garlic powder)
Combine all veggies in a large mixing bowl and set aside. Combine remaining ingredients in an airtight container and shake well to mix. Pour over veggies and chill for 2 to 12 hours, stirring occasionally. Serve with a slotted spoon or drain before serving (reserve the dressing in case you have leftovers you wanna store in it to keep them flavorful).
Makes 8 servings
Feel free to get creative
Because I’m still doing the reintroduction phase of the Whole30, I used ¼ c defrosted apple juice concentrate instead of the sugar to be more compliant. I love vinegar, but this definitely needed a shot of sweet to tame the sour.
You can throw in different veggies if you want. I like boosting the color with the added dark green of some zucchini and purple from red onion. I used my red bell pepper last night in something else (oops!), so the red this time was baby grape tomatoes from my own garden. Even small florets from broccoli or cauliflower or some diced carrot would add a different flavor.
A very flexible, and tasty, cold veggie salad
You really can’t go wrong with this one. If you have “a little of this” and “a little of that” raw veggies around, here’s a good way to use them all up. Any veggie you would eat raw is fair game…though if you add something dark and leafy like kale or spinach, I’d toss them in at the last minute so they don’t get soggy.
What veggie would you add to this great salad? Let me know in the comments!
Want more “flexible” recipes you can be creative with? Try these…
