Post by barb43 on Jul 18, 2019 14:00:11 GMT
Summer Vegetable Chopped Salad
- This recipe appeared in The Lawton Constitution, our hometown newspaper. The paper typically runs recipes and grocery ads on Wednesdays. The headline to the article this recipe appears in states:
The key to a crisp chopped salad is salting ahead of time
This salad takes a little effort to cut up all the vegetables, but it has a really good flavor and, if chilled for 5-20 minutes before serving, it positively makes you think that it embodies 'Summer'.
Ingredients:
Servings: 4
2 cucumbers, peeled, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
(recipe says to seed the halves before slicing but that didn't matter to us so I didn't do it)
2 or 3 Roma tomatoes, quartered, seeded, and chopped into bite-sized pieces
Salt and Pepper
1 yellow or orange bell pepper, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 small red onion, chopped fine (if using a larger red onion, cut up the amount that suits your tastes)
up to 3/4-cup chopped Italian parsley, if preferred (I omitted this)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced (I used garlic in a jar)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Directions:
- This recipe appeared in The Lawton Constitution, our hometown newspaper. The paper typically runs recipes and grocery ads on Wednesdays. The headline to the article this recipe appears in states:
The key to a crisp chopped salad is salting ahead of time
This salad takes a little effort to cut up all the vegetables, but it has a really good flavor and, if chilled for 5-20 minutes before serving, it positively makes you think that it embodies 'Summer'.
Ingredients:
Servings: 4
2 cucumbers, peeled, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
(recipe says to seed the halves before slicing but that didn't matter to us so I didn't do it)
2 or 3 Roma tomatoes, quartered, seeded, and chopped into bite-sized pieces
Salt and Pepper
1 yellow or orange bell pepper, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 small red onion, chopped fine (if using a larger red onion, cut up the amount that suits your tastes)
2 or 3 red radishes, trimmed and sliced thin (I quartered the slices)
1 Romaine lettuce heart cut into 1" pieces
(I used a bag of fresh garden salad that contained a mix of lettuces, shredded red cabbage pieces, and matchstick carrots)
up to 3/4-cup chopped Italian parsley, if preferred (I omitted this)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced (I used garlic in a jar)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Directions:
1. Toss the cut cucumbers and tomatoes in a colander with 1 tsp of salt (I sprinkled salt lightly over the veggies, didn't measure it) and let drain for 15 minutes.
2. Cut all vegetables before beginning assembly of the salad. Note that the lettuce is added last to prevent it from becoming soggy.
3. Whisk vinegar, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper, and garlic together in a large bowl. Whisking constantly, drizzle in the extra-virgin olive oil. Add drained cucumbers and tomatoes, bell pepper, onion, radishes, and parsley (if used) and toss to coat. *At this point*, let salad rest in the refrigerator for 5-20 minutes so all of the flavors mix.
4. Add lettuce just before serving and gently toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
Note: Watch the salt so you're not disappointed because the salad is too salty at the end. I salted the tomatoes & cucumbers lightly because they are not rinsed before going into the salad mix. I did not add salt & pepper to the dressing as I was whisking it together. We peppered the salad on our plates as preferred and skipped salt, but that's just us.
If you want a larger batch of salad, use up to 3 cucumbers and 1-1/2 lbs of cherry tomatoes instead of Roma tomatoes.
This is the photo that appeared in the newspaper. It was provided by America's Test Kitchen in June 2019. The salad does turn out to look pretty much like this. It's very appealing.