In recent years, I have rediscovered a love of vegetables. It was brought on by the desire to have energy for my growing family. The sharp spikes and falls of a refined sugar hit just weren’t working for me anymore, and I was TIRED. I needed to find a more sustained way to maintain my strength. It was on this journey that I learnt all about the true value of vegetables.
I grew to appreciate the crunch, sweetness, and impact of a variety of vegetables and tried to flip my diet so that I was making vegetables my main source of food. The impact of this, combined with exercise, truly amazed me! I began achieving goals I had always wanted to… Like rising into darkness at 5am and running 6 miles (10kms), and many other firsts. I now love vegetables!
So, I was interested to try out this new Fresh Vegetable Salad from Grandma’s recipe book. I knew it would have plenty of crunch because none of the vegetables included were soft (like tomato or avocado). It also didn’t include green, leafy vegetables like lettuce or baby spinach like most salad recipes do. I had also never tried white onion before and was interested to give it a go.
I quickly calculated that the amount of vegetables included in this recipe was going to result in a salad that was far bigger than I would need, so I decided to cut down the amount by a third. Unless you are cooking for the masses, I recommend you do the same (or even reduce it by 2/3!). The amount I made still managed to feed my 7 person family + my sister and our neighbours (8 people), and there were still leftovers! But we do have a lot of children between us and they didn’t eat big amounts.
After I had settled on the amount I wanted to make, I then got to chopping. This part was pretty quick and simple. Chop, chop, chop, and into the bowl it all goes! Mix through the dressing and you are DONE. Simple as that… I covered and refrigerated the salad and waited for my guests to arrive.
We served the salad with a large roast chicken and pan-fried souvlaki bread. This Fresh Vegetable Salad was an interesting twist on a regular salad. It definitely had lots of crunch! My husband and son really enjoyed it, and I enjoyed trying something new.
I don’t know if I would make it again as it seemed to lack something (my neighbours agreed). But it perhaps could be a good base, and just needs some additions. Maybe some baby spinach, feta cheese, and olives. I also imagined this Fresh Vegetable Salad could go well with a freshly barbecued steak and yummy potato salad.
If you do decide to give this salad a try, I’m interested to hear your thoughts or if you used any variations.
Enjoy!
Serves: 6-8
- 3 red peppers (capsicum)
- 3 green peppers (capsicum)
- 2 cucumbers
- 1lb. (450g) Small white onions
- 6 sticks of Celery
- 2 large carrots
- ½ to ¾ cup bottled French or Italian dressing
- Seed peppers, cut into 1in. cubes.
- Slice cucumbers into ¼in. slices.
- Peel and quarter onions.
- Cut celery diagonally into 1 in. slices.
- Peel carrots, cut into thin strips approx. 3in. Long.
- Combine all vegetables in bowl, pour salad dressing over 15 to 30 minutes before serving.
- Cover, refrigerate.
