2013 – Gluten Free Living

This is a salad I think you’re going to love! Marinated Veggie Salad was one of my Mom’s favorite recipes throughout the years. She used to make this all the time for us when we came home to visit and bring her grandkids to see her. The lovely thing about the marinade is that there is NO oil!

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That’s right. It uses vinegar, sugar, water and whatever salad type spices you like to use, but no oil. Mom typically used tomatoes, celery, onions, green peppers, and cucumbers in her salads. I prefer to expand mine out to other hard crunchy veggies like carrots, sugar snap peas, broccoli, zucchini, and red, orange or yellow bell peppers for color.

This delightful salad is gluten free, vegan, and full of hearty and nutritious veggies. If you want to make it healthier, substitute honey or Stevia drops for the sugar. I was making this for a friend the other day. She has recently undergone gall bladder surgery so she has difficulty digesting oils. This salad dressing without oil is perfect for her.

This is a recipe you can tinker around with too. Mom used to buy a spice at Winn-Dixie that was called “salad seasonings.” I’ve never been able to find it wherever I’ve lived, so I’ve used Mrs. Dash or other seasonings for the salad seasonings in the recipe.

If you’re looking for a tasty way to get your kids to eat their veggies, then this salad may do it. I’ve used both apple cider vinegar and white vinegar in this recipe and both work equally well. The nice thing about this recipe is you can make it up in the morning and refrigerate it and not have to worry about it again until you’re ready to serve it for dinner.

It’s a great salad to serve up for lunch with some homemade bread, too. You can also use up your garden produce or extra large amounts of produce from your Community Supported Agriculture supplier by making a batch of Marinated Veggie Salad.

Marinated Veggie Salad is a delicious way to get your kids to eat all their veggies!

This festive salad is so colorful and pleasing to look at. It’s a great salad to make for company too. You can prepare it first thing in the morning and not have to fiddle with it again until you need to serve it.

Marinated Veggie Salad is gluten free, vegan, and has NO oil! You can add whatever kind of seasonings to the marinade your family likes. This includes any kind of salad seasonings, Mrs. Dash, or a variety of herbs will work.

Here’s what I did. 

Place tomatoes in a large salad bowl. I was trying to use up a really large container of grape tomatoes, so I sliced them in half. Otherwise I would use Roma tomatoes because they aren’t as juicy as regular tomatoes. 

Add a peeled, sliced cucumber. Add some diced red onion. I usually only put in about 1/4-1/3 cup because most people won’t eat it and I was making this for another family.

Add carrot chips.

Add red bell pepper strips and yellow bell pepper strips.

Add green bell pepper strips, sugar snap peas and broccoli. You can also add quartered and sliced zucchini, yellow squash, radishes or other crunchy-type veggies–especially if you have a lot of garden produce you are trying to get rid of.

To make the marinade: Place apple cider vinegar in a large measuring cup. I DOUBLED the marinade recipe for this much salad. 

Add sugar, pepper, salt and Mrs. Dash or some other kind of salad seasonings to your taste. I used a heaping teaspoon but you can add more.

Now add water. Stir to combine. You can see all the ingredients whirling around in this picture!

Pour marinade over salad ingredients. Stir to combine. Refrigerate for a few hours until cold. This will serve 8-10.

Marinated Veggie Salad has so many different textures: crunch from the carrots and sugar snap peas, a softer chew from the tomatoes and cucumbers, and different crunches from the bell peppers and broccoli. It’s really a delightful salad to eat.

To serve: Spoon salad fixings into bowls making sure you get a little of the marinade in each serving!

If you grow your own garden vegetables you will enjoy making and eating this salad. Each serving is filled with healthy antioxidants from the veggies used. You can use any kind of tomato you have on hand. Even hot banana peppers–from your garden or otherwise–would provide some additional zest.

This is a great salad for holidays and company too, especially for those on gluten free or vegan diets.

Here’s the recipe.

MARINATED VEGGIE SALAD

(Recipe adapted from my mom, Helen Mattis, Titusville, FL)

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Marinated Veggie Salad Yum

Marinated Veggie Salad is chocked full of fresh veggies like tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, bell peppers, broccoli and sugar snap peas. It's a festive and beautiful salad that's also terrific to make for company dinners or the holidays. The marinade is made with no oil. This delicious salad is vegan and gluten free.

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Course

Salads and Salad Dressings

Cuisine

American

Keyword

broccoli, carrots, cucumbers, gluten free, salad, salad dressing, side dish, tomatoes, vegan, vegetable

Prep Time

25 minutes

Cook Time

0 minutes

Servings

MetricUS Imperial

Ingredients

SALAD:

• 1 cucumber peeled and sliced
• 1 small onion peeled, sliced and separated into rings (I use about 1/3 cup diced red onion
• 1 green pepper seeded and cut in strips (I used 1/2 green and 1/2 yellow bell peppers)
• 3-4 roma tomatoes sliced (I used a pint of grape tomatoes, halved)
• 1 rib celery sliced
• 3/4 cup sugar snap peas
• 3/4 cup broccoli florets
• 1 red bell pepper diced or sliced
• 1 cup carrot chips

MARINADE:

• 2/3 cup vinegar
• 2/3 cup sugar (or substitute honey or Stevia drops, to taste)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Other salad spices and seasonings like Nature’s seasonings, Mrs. Dash or your preference
• 1 1/2 cups water

Course Salads and Salad Dressings Cuisine American Keyword broccoli, carrots, cucumbers, gluten free, salad, salad dressing, side dish, tomatoes, vegan, vegetable Prep Time 25 minutes Cook Time 0 minutes Servings MetricUS Imperial Ingredients SALAD: 1 cucumber peeled and sliced 1 small onion peeled, sliced and separated into rings (I use about 1/3 cup diced red onion 1 green pepper seeded and cut in strips (I used 1/2 green and 1/2 yellow bell peppers) 3-4 roma tomatoes sliced (I used a pint of grape tomatoes, halved) 1 rib celery sliced 3/4 cup sugar snap peas 3/4 cup broccoli florets 1 red bell pepper diced or sliced 1 cup carrot chips MARINADE: 2/3 cup vinegar 2/3 cup sugar (or substitute honey or Stevia drops, to taste) Salt and pepper to taste Other salad spices and seasonings like Nature’s seasonings, Mrs. Dash or your preference 1 1/2 cups water

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Instructions

SALAD:

1. Layer salad ingredients in bowl.
2. Toss with marinade.
3. Refrigerate a few hours before serving.

MARINADE:

1. Stir together marinade ingredients and set aside.

Recipe Notes

NOTE: Mom always liked to make this salad because she could do it ahead of time and not have to worry about making salad while preparing the rest of the meal.

NOTE: You can add lettuce, but only right before serving.

NOTE: Mom's recipe only included the first five ingredients. This is enough marinade for that. If you are using all the extra veggies I've added, or throwing in some others your family likes, you will need to DOUBLE the marinade which is what I did for these pictures.

^© Can’t Stay Out of the Kitchen

This is one of those salads you can make up and serve all summer long to take advantage of the seasonal fresh produce available. Taste of spoonful of this delicious salad! Doesn’t Marinated Veggie Salad look spectacular? It sure is a tasty salad.

We love my Mom’s Marinated Veggie Salad recipe and think you will too.

All the fresh vegetables taste so wonderful and the marinade is light without being overpowering. The nice thing about Marinated Veggie Salad is you can add or subtract the veggies your family likes.

You may also enjoy these delicious recipes!

Marinated Greek Salad

Marinated Squash and Tomato Salad

Vegetable Salad