Marinated Vegetable Salad

Here is a bowl of goodness which tastes as good as it looks.  We went to family for a braai (barbecue) on Sunday night and we had a lovely marinated baby potato salad so I thought I would try and reproduce it.  Well, it grew from baby potatoes to almost every vegetable I had in the fridge!  Here’s what I did.

Quantities in this salad are not important so I’m not stipulating how much of anything to use.  Some of the vegetables are steamed and others are raw.  If you don’t have a steamer then just boil the veggies that need to be cooked.  These are the vegetables I steamed –

broccoli

cauliflower

green beans

baby potatoes, well washed

carrots

I steamed everything for about 20 minutes but found the baby potatoes and carrots needed slightly longer.  While the vegetables are steaming prepare a bowl of iced water and plunge all the vegetables into this once you are satisfied with their “doneness” to stop the vegetables cooking any further and to keep their colour.  About 10 minutes in the water is sufficient.

Meanwhile prepare the vegetables that don’t need cooking by chopping and slicing as desired.  I used –

celery

onion rings

cherry tomatoes

cucumber

green bell pepper

cubed feta cheese with chives (or any other variation)

Drain very thoroughly the vegetables which have been sitting in the iced water.  Put all the vegetables in a salad bowl and pour the marinade over.  Toss the salad and chill in the fridge for at least an hour.

MARINADE

45 ml honey

50 ml lemon juice

some shredded basil leaves

3 ml dried origanum

salt and ground black pepper

pinch of chilli flakes

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

30 ml olive oil

Whisk all but the oil together then gradually add the oil while whisking.

I served the salad with pork neck steaks which I grilled on my George Foreman grilling machine, together with crusty ciabatta.

Chinese Cabbage and Noodle Salad

I just love the colours in this impressive salad and it is very popular when served at a dinner party or function.  It has a lovely crunch to it too as long as you add the dressing and crunchy bits at the last minute.

Approx ¼ of a large red cabbage or two baby red cabbages

1 pack sugar snap peas (mangetout)  (or a little more)

1 pack baby corn

1 pack spring onions (shallots)

Few sliced baby carrots

100 grams slivered almonds

1½  packets x 2-minute noodles (discard the flavouring)

Chop/slice first 5 ingredients to desired size and set aside

Grill almonds & noodles (separately) for a few minutes until crisp and slightly golden.

DRESSING:

100 ml olive oil

3 heaped dessert spoons brown sugar

60 ml vinegar

15 ml soy sauce

1 chicken stock cube (or 2 teas. chicken stock powder)

Bring to the boil all dressing ingredients and allow to cool.  Pour over salad just before serving, then add nuts and noodles and mix in.

Notes:

• Add noodles/nuts just before serving otherwise they become soggy
• Better to grill nuts and noodles separately as they take different times to brown
• Quantities are flexible
• If you don’t use all the noodles/nuts, store in an airtight container for use later