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Easy Warm Summer Vegetable Salad
smallsquirrel
Summer is my favorite time of year to cook. There are plenty of great vegetables available, and it's so easy to throw together a nice and easy salad.
This colorful salad is great served warm when it is first made, but it gains flavor as you let the leftovers (if there are any!) sit and marinate in the fridge. You can easily double the recipe, and it is guaranteed to spruce up any picnic!
I do not have a lot of exact measurements because I never learned to cook using them, so please don't get mad at the approximations.
This recipe takes about 20 minutes to make.
What you'll need:
-1 large red pepper
-8-10 baby red potatoes. you can use baby white ones too in a pinch.
-approx 1/2-3/4 lb of fresh string beans
-a lemon
-extra virgin olive oil
-spring onions
-salt
-black pepper
-a light vinegar (either rice wine or white wine. don't use balsamic as it is too dark and will discolor the potatoes)
-your favorite herb (I prefer basil for this, but you could use oregano or whatever you fancy!)
Set a medium sized pot of water to boil. Add the whole potatoes to the boiling water. When they are fork tender, take them out, cut them in half and place them in a large bowl. Do not over cook them!
While the potatoes cook, roast the red pepper. You can do this in your broiler, if you have one, or take a fork and hold it over the burner on your stove. It will take about 7-9 minutes to properly char the pepper. It should be well burnt on the outside. When it is done, slice in half and place inside a clean paper bag and close it. Or put inside a bowl and cover it. After about 5 minutes take the pepper off and the burnt skin will come off easily. Scrape out the seeds, cut into strips and set aside.
In a large bowl put about 3 tablespoons of vinegar, the zest of about 1/2 the lemon (be sure not to get the pith!!!), some salt, black pepper, and about one tablespoon of chopped fresh or dried herbs. Also squeeze some of the lemon juice into the bowl. Then while whisking, add about a 1/2 cup of olive oil. Taste it. If it is missing something, add it! It should be tangy/lemony and herby. It has to be strong enough to light up the veggies, so don't be shy! Pour contents over warm potatoes and toss.
Clean the string beans and chop them in half. Put them in the boiling water you just took the potatoes out of. Do not over cook them. I usually leave them in for about 4 minutes tops! They should be bright green and crunchy. Drain and add to the potatoes.
Clean and slice one green onion and add to the bowl. Add roasted pepper strips, toss and you are done!
Easy Warm Summer Vegetable Salad
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temporal
URL
June 25, 2008
12:27 AM
ss:
was planning a visit around labour day...might move to late summer...depending....
;)
Deepti Lamba
URL
June 25, 2008
01:57 AM
Yummy!!
Deepa Krishnan
URL
June 25, 2008
04:45 AM
photo! photo! i demand a photo!
Ayan Roy
June 25, 2008
06:22 AM
Seems good! But the potatoes and oil add up the calorie count unfortunately..
Any good salad recipes which don't involve heating/cooking and can be made in less that 10 minutes? Links will be appreciated, or one could post the recipe right here in the comments section. Thanks!
Ledzius
June 25, 2008
06:46 AM
Yeah, potatoes are the worst culprits.. oil isn't too bad as long is it is extra virgin olive oil.
temporal
URL
June 25, 2008
08:10 AM
ayan:
why salad only?
* sugar cane: (wash, peel, store in refrigerator)
* bud lite: (still has calories though)
* scotch on the rocks or margaritas if you prefer
* milk, fruit, ice - blender
* dry fruits platter
* sunflower seeds (salted, unsalted, roasted, unroasted)
ps: ss - ok am off topic - be kind
smallsquirrel
June 25, 2008
08:27 AM
temp, thanks actually, my reply was going to be something like:
What? am I some kind of Giada deLaurentis on demand or something????
LOL
ayan, come on now. anything is OK in moderation. it is a salad, not a main course. chill! plus you want something good in under 10 minutes without cooking. that is a tall order, and aside from fruit salad here is all I can think of:
1. coarse chop 4-5 large tomatoes, add 2-3 large cloves garlic minced, olive oil, salt, and chopped fresh basil. let sit for 15 minutes.
2. take one can chick peas (chole... and not the dried ones) and drain and rise well, add chopped red onions, white wine or rice wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, black pepper, and either basil or oregano to taste.
there, is that sufficient??? no?
One can black beans, drained and rinsed, one can of corn (not creamed corn). mix in bowl, add one large handful chopped cilantro, 1/2 chopped red pepper, 1/2 chopped white onion, salt, pepper, olive oil and a small amount of vinegar.
DONE!
Ayan Roy
June 26, 2008
03:10 AM
Thanks for the salad recipes, Smallsquirrel.
I have been advised to have only salads at night for dinner, and completely cut out all forms of fat and carbohydrates.
I am trying to lose weight, and am having to keep calories in mind, besides cutting down on the amount of food I consume. It's very painful and requires a lot of self-restraint as I am a foodie (mainly carnivore and cheesi-vore) and love to eat!
Love and peace to all,
Ayan
Aditi Nadkarni
URL
June 26, 2008
04:03 AM
Whatta nice lil recipe SS! I like that it'll have some heat from the peppers. I just loved it when you said: "Taste it. If it is missing something, add it!" How cute :)
Ayan: Have you tried the Vietnamese Summer Roll?! gosh its good for the carb cravings when one isn't allowed any carbs. I loved spring rolls but used to feel all G&G (greasy and guilty) upon eating one. And then I discovered the non-greasy, light, filling version.
Its so easy: the only carb is a flimsy film of rice paper that you can get at the grocery store. Just toss a coleslaw mix, add soy sauce (or any tangy) sauce, steam the veggies if u like (I like em crunchy) and maybe a few bean sprouts or noodles. Sugar, salt, black pepper. You can add some other marinade that'll appeal to your taste buds. Wrap up the mix in a moistened rice paper. You can even make a peanut sauce with peanut butter and soy sauce! So easy.
Don't deprive yourself completely of the good stuff. Moderation is probably the key....and I should probably remember that when I'm binging :) Good luck w/ the weight loss.
BTW I have discovered and absolutely love the modified chaats: Chhole, chopped onion, cilantro, chaat masala, green chutney, tamarind-date chutney. Done! (I cheat sometimes and add sev-chivda or boiled potato :)) But whatta snack!
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