I can’t believe it is already July before I am getting you this recipe of my favorite summer chopped veggie salad. Life is crazy, but my favorite local farmers markets are flourishing with all the fresh vegetables. Thank you so much Mother Nature!
With this year’s COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, many of us have been gaining the quarantine-15. It was great at first to get into all the baking. The weather was raining and we all raided the stores for flour, sugar and yeast. We baked to our hearts content. Yum!
Now it’s “Oh No! where did these extra pounds come from?” It’s time to switch gears with the sun shining. Get out and get walking and change those great bread recipes, making use of all the fresh veggies and fruits.
You’ll love my Summer Chopped Veggie Salad. It’s easy, inexpensive, great for those get togethers of 10 that we are allowed. You can also make it the day before, saving time as well. It is also super versatile! Have it as a salad, a side dish, add it to a pile of leafy greens to make a “big salad” like Elaine on Seinfield!
Make that salad last longer buy keeping the dressing “on the side”, only using it when you are enjoying a portion of the salad. Perfect for to-go lunches at work!
Are you ready to make your new favorite Summer Chopped Veggie Salad? Gather your ingredients. Start a pot of water boiling on the stove and prepare an ice bath. If you’ve got one, pull that awesome food chopper out of the pantry and have a large bowl for all the veggies!
Start with shucking and cleaning your corn, it takes the longest to blanch. Chop your green beans while the corn cooks, getting them ready to use the same water once you have pulled the corn and tossed it into the ice bath.
Once your corn is cold, remove it from the ice bath and pat dry. Cut the corn off the cob and break it into pieces. Now blanch your green beans. Toss them in the ice bath. Once cold, remove, pat dry and add with the corn.
Finally, you are going to spend a ton of time chopping all the rest of your veggies. There is a reason its called a Summer Chopped Veggie Salad! To save time, I really recommend getting a food chopper like the one in my photo. I even think I added a link in my recipe, Tortellini Soup, because when you have recipes that are chopped veggie focused it really saves so much time. Seriously. It has two dicing screens, one that is perfect 1/4″ pieces and then one much smaller that is great for the onions and jalapenos. You don’t need to spend 30 minutes chopping when you can spend 10.
Now that you have all those veggies chopped and tossed in your bowl, stir to combine. Set it all aside or cover and refridgerate if you are waiting to serve the salad. Make the simple dressing, I usually double it, and place in a container with a lid so that when you are ready to serve your salad you can just shake and pour. Your dressing does not need to be refrigerated.
It’s time to enjoy this fresh Summer Chopped Veggie Salad!
Summer Chopped Veggie Salad
Ingredients
- 2 tsp salt
- 3 ears fresh sweet corn I prefer white corn
- 1 pound fresh green beans trimmed and cut into ¼" pieces
- 4 plum tomatoes seeded and cut into ¼" pieces
- 1 red pepper seeded, deveined and cut into ¼" pieces
- 1 yellow pepper seeded, deveined and cut into ¼" pieces
- 1 English cucumber cut in quarters and cut into ¼" pieces
- ¾ cup fresh cilantro leaves chopped
- 1 fresh jalapeno seeded, deveined and minced
Dressing
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- 2 tbsp seasoned rice wine vinegar
- 1 tsp fresh course ground pepper I love using Penzey's California Seasoned Pepper
Instructions
- Bring a medium sized pot of salted water to a boil. Prepare an icebath and set aside. Add corn to boiling water, and blanch until tender, about 6 minutes. With tongs, remove corn from water and plunge into ice bath immediately. When corn is thoroughly cooled, remove from ice bath. With a large kitchen knife, remove kernels from the cobs. Transfer to a large bowl, breaking into pieces as you do this.
- Add green beans to the boiling water , and blanch until tender, about 1-2 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove from water and plunge into ice bath immediately. When beans are thoroughly cooled, remove from ice bath and transfer to the large bowl containing corn.
- Drain any excess water from corn and green beans. Add tomatoes, red and yellow peppers, onion, cucumber, jalapeno and cilantro. Toss to combine. Cover and keep refridgerated until serving.
- Combine dressing ingredients in a small container with a lid and shake to blend before serving.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Yum!!