In my opinion, you can never have enough summer salad recipes! My family enjoys loaded grilled chicken salad, fresh and flavorful corn salad and this amazingly delicious vegetable salad recipe. Sometimes I’m just not in the mood for lettuce, and on those days, I turn to this crunchy chopped vegetable salads. It’s got plenty of great flavors and textures, and also happens to be quite simple to put together. Pair your salad with pan seared chicken breast, Instant Pot chicken thighs or manicotti for a memorable meal.
Vegetable Salad Ingredients
The primary components of this salad include corn, cucumber, tomato, red onion, bell pepper, green beans and fresh herbs. The dressing is a blend of extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, sugar, dried oregano, dried parsley, garlic powder, salt and black pepper.
How Do You Make Vegetable Salad?
Start by preparing all your veggies and fresh herbs, then place them in a large bowl. It’s best if the vegetables are cut small into bite sized pieces. Next, make a dressing out of lemon juice, Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, seasonings and olive oil. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss until well combined. Serve right away, or refrigerate for later use.
Tips For The Perfect Salad
You can use fresh, thawed from frozen or canned corn, whichever is available! This recipe calls for blanched green beans, as I find they have better texture than raw beans. To blanch the green beans, place them in a pot of boiling salted water and cook for 3-4 minutes or until just tender. Remove the green beans from the pot, and transfer them to a bowl of ice water. This will stop the cooking process and retain their beautiful green color. No cherry tomatoes on hand? Diced Roma tomatoes will also work just fine. You can use any color bell pepper that you like. Red, orange and yellow bell peppers are sweeter than the green variety. This salad is perfect for potlucks, and is great when served with grilled salmon or rib eye steak.
Vegetable Salad Flavor Variations
This salad is great as-is, but you can add other ingredients to make the flavors your own.
Protein: Make it a meal by adding cooked crumbled bacon, grilled chicken tenders, grilled shrimp, canned white beans or chickpeas. Flavorings: Amp up the flavor with sliced olives, toasted pine nuts, crumbled feta cheese, croutons, cooked quinoa, sliced almonds or sunflower seeds. Pasta: Double the dressing and add 12 ounces of cooked short pasta to make a veggie pasta salad. Vegetables: Add more veggies to the mix, or swap out some of the ones listed in the recipe with your own favorites. Other great choices include fennel, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, shallots, avocado, baby spinach, artichoke hearts, shredded carrots or blanched asparagus. Lettuce: Toss in some leafy greens such as romaine lettuce, butter lettuce, spring mixed greens or baby spinach.
This salad is a great way to use up any odds and ends of vegetables that you happen to have around. It’s nutritious, full of flavor, and is sure to be a hit with family and friends.
