The Beauty Of Raw Vegetable Salads
June 26th, 2009
Raw vegetable salads lend simplicity, convenience, elegance and a good dose of vegetables to a meal all at the same time. The basic formula is easy: choose three or four different vegetables you’d eat raw (corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, fennel, carrots, radishes, cabbage, radicchio, endive, sweet or green onions), add in some cheese (feta, mozzarella, Swiss, cubed parmesan) and / or toasted nut or seed (pecans, almonds, pine nuts), and toss it all with any simple vinaigrette and some chopped fresh herbs (parsley, marjoram, chives, thyme).
Raw vegetable salads are especially good in summer when the garden and farmers markets are bountiful. They’re refreshing and light, contrast nicely with grilled meats and simply cooked grains (rice, couscous, quinoa), and can even serve as the main taste and flavor component of a meal. They can be made ahead and chilled so their flavors have time to meld, then brought out an hour or so before you serve dinner to come to room temperature. Cut the vegetables into large pieces for a more traditional “salad,” and into smaller pieces for more of a relish feel.
Recipe: Tomato, Corn, Cucmber And Feta Salad
Recipe: Greek Salad
Recipe: Moroccan Carrot Salad
Recipe: Grated Beet, Frisée, Walnut And Goat Cheese Salad
Recipe: Fennel And Orange Salad With Pecorino
Recipe: Tomato, Mozzarella And Basil Relish
June 30th, 2009 at 9:08 am
Love this idea and make these types of salads quite often in the summer!
Sometimes, I also add boiled potatoes, or orzo or cold rice.
July 1st, 2009 at 12:02 am
Toss some leftover pasta with these recipes to make some hearty main-dish salads that even meat lovers will like.
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:45 pm
I love these too! So fresh, nutritious, and refreshing. C!
July 6th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
Is that corn really raw?
July 9th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
How unfortunate that this blog is not updated regularly anymore. I feel like a reader tossed out to sea. Ah well.
July 10th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
Going to make this tonight to go with grilled steaks.
July 31st, 2009 at 2:59 pm
I find that heirloom tomatoes, corn, avocados and feta don’t even need a dressing - just a pinch of salt will do!
July 31st, 2009 at 7:05 pm
I’ve been making a avocado, fresh corn & tomato salad lately (from Martha Stewart I think). Sooo good!
August 5th, 2009 at 9:50 am
[…] Here’s another take on summer salads that make use of all the vegetables available at this time of year - CookThink is a recipe and food and drinks blog. […]
August 27th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
This does look like delicious salad! One of the best things you can do with food you really love, is pair it with a palette tempting drink. MixedDrinksMadeEasy.com offers hundreds of drink recipes that you can pair with your favorite foods for a real celebration of flavor!