"Anyone that doesn't agree with leggings as pants can physically fight me.
And I'm going to win because I have a full range of motion due to the fact that I am wearing leggings as pants."

Friday, September 12, 2008

Grilled Vegetable Potato Salad

A couple of weeks ago we went to an end of summer party. We were supposed to bring a dish to share and I just couldn't think of anything I wanted to cook. As I wandered around the grocery store, the only thing that seemed appealing was the vegetables.

So I brought them all home and used this recipe as a starting point.

Let me tell you, this was a huge hit. Even our kids liked this and it's full of vegetables. You could make it with or without the sour cream. We tasted it before adding it and it was pretty damned good then. But it was even better with it. Ummmm, I think I might have the rest of it for breakfast.

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I think the best thing about this is that it would work with a lot of different vegetables. I'd planned to use broccoli originally, but apparently forgot to pick some up. The pictures here are from my second attempt, which used quite a few types of vegetables. I honestly can't think of much that wouldn't work with this. Zucchini being the only thing that comes to mind because it would get pretty soggy. Although, if you just added it raw and grated it would probably work.

This particular recipe makes a lot. If you aren't making it for a party, I'd suggest doing half (or even a quarter). And, yes, it is still good the next day. I can't vouch for the third day because it has never made it that long.

Ingredients
Vegetables
4 ears of corn
Half a head of cabbage (cut in half again, keeping the core fairly intact)
2 pounds of red potatoes (cut in half inch sized pieces)
1 pound (or so) green beans, tips removed and cut in half
1 bunch of asparagus
(The second time I made this, I also used cauliflower, broccoli, bell peppers and ancho chilies.)
Dressing
1 shallot (diced fine)
1 bunch of scallions (white and light green parts chopped in slices)
1/2 cup of oil (I used olive)
1/2 cup of good quality red wine vinegar
2 T. of dijon mustard
Other Stuff
3/4 cup of sour cream (feel free to use more or less or none even)
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook all the vegetables till they're just crisp tender (not too soggy) using whatever method you prefer. I like to grill them because I think it adds a good flavor, but however you do it is fine. Here are my favorite methods for cooking vegetables. Note- for the cabbage you can either use it raw, grill it while it's still attached to the core or cut it free and grill the pieces like this.
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2. Chop the vegetables to the right size for this recipe. This involves cutting the corn off the cob, chopping the peppers really small (to help the mouth feel for picky eaters), cutting the cabbage into thin strips and chopping most everything else up a bit. I left the green beans and potatoes a bit bigger. Add all the vegetables together in one bowl. I ended up with about 12 cups of vegetables at this point.
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3. Mix together all the ingredients for the dressing.

4. Pour the dressing bit by bit over the vegetables, stirring and tasting as you go. You may not need to add all of it. It really is a matter of preference. Also, like I said, feel free to stop at this point of the recipe.
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5. If using, stir in the sour cream. Add salt and pepper to taste.
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(If you don't like the pinkish hue that this has, feel free to use green cabbage instead.)

Serve warm (right away) or chilled.

Since the first time I made this, I've actually eaten a potato salad sandwich.

And it was awesome.


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Sun Salutation Update- I've done 8 of these for comments from the last two days.

PS- I also wanted to mention that I added another picture to the post about Jenny's Blessingway/ Baby Shower. If you haven't seen it, you might want to check it out 'cause it's purdy.

11 comments:

MichelleB said...

This looks fantastic! Plus I'd have a great excuse to try your grilled veggies. I make a cabbage/ramen salad with a similar dressing (no sour cream) that my kids love and eat up, so I'm thinking this would go over well, too. Not that they're extremely picky about veggies, but still, the more that I can cram down them, the better. This would be a great after school snack, too.

auroramae said...

This also makes for a great sandwich.

Anonymous said...

A similar old time dish is succotash, which originally started out as a corn and bean dish, but which has ended up over the years as having all the week's left-over vegetables! I've done just that, even tossed left-overs with fresh. Another dish is the disgusting dish called brunswick stew, though they do add meat to it, usually undefinable and indistinguishable meat, and boil it all together to a mush of the most disgusting nature. But that really, in the end, doesn't resemble the original succotash or your grilled veggies!

Alice said...

That looks really yummy! I'll have to try it too. Also, I found a wonderful Sesame dressing at Costco from Feast From the East - www.feastkitchens.com (to find it in anyone else's area other than Denver). I marinated some chicken in it and then grilled it, chopped it up and added it to a multi-veggie and rice noodle salad with a little more of the dressing. Very tasty. It says that it has all-natural ingredients and is gluten-free (for Allison & Brad), however, it does have fructose in it.
I had visions of having barbeques & inviting people over more often this summer and here it is, September, and it didn't happen. Sigh!!

Anonymous said...

Alice, you'll have to do that in October when David is there!

Anonymous said...

The potato salad and the vegetable soup recipe from a few days ago sound delicious. I like the idea of being able to cook delicious meals, but the fact is that I do not enjoy cooking. I thought that when I quit work and started staying home that I would at least try a little harder to be a good cook, but it got old after about the first month or two. From time to time I'll give a little extra effort and I'll manage to produce a few tasty and healthy meals. I have a few things that I cook that are actually very good, but happen to take very little effort on my part. Basically, something has to be VERY simple for me even force myself to make. Yes, I know that it's sad and you probably feel sorry for my family, but...it's the truth. I'm sure they'll survive.

I'll definitely try those two recipes, but I have a feeling that there are two many steps and too mnay ingredients for me. I'll let you know how it goes.

Melody

Anonymous said...

Ok, so Wendy's blog is becoming an open forum for family members. This is in response to my daughter, the above commenter, Melody. Honey, in your defense, you have a family that is VERY hard to cook for! I've seen you cook a very good meal and have you and I be the only ones that eat it! When Brent manages to get home for dinner, after working late and going to the gym, he may have already eaten fast food to hold him over, or he pokes through what you fixed and only eats what appeals to him. (Well, maybe that's a little harsh.) The boys are both at the age where you could put a bowl of sugar in the middle of the table and tell them to eat it, and they will NOT eat it because you said so. One meal they love chicken, and the next one they hate chicken. Give me a break - what kids do you know who don't like macaroni and cheese or watermelon! I'm sure that five years down the road you will get your chance to shine in the kitchen, and the boys especially will appreciate your efforts and dig in with gusto!

Wendy said...

Melody, I'd hate cooking too if everyone was so picky. When the kids were younger and pickier, I let Jeff know that if he didn't set a VERY good example of loving the meals I prepared, he'd be doing ALL of the cooking. I've gone on strike on more than one occasion.

Too bad it's too late to give you advice from Jenny's experience with Kam (I wish I'd known it)... -eat as many things as possible when you're pregnant
-breast feed for as long as possible (while still eating all kinds of different foods- the tastes will get through to the baby)
-don't let the baby taste anything sweet (including fruit) until after he's a year old. It seems harsh, but Kam will eat anything and everything. If he sees you eating something, he assumes that it's something he'd like to try.

Felicia said...

This looks incredibly tasty.

wool food mama said...

yum. That's all I got. lol. just yum.

I've book marked it tho. For sure. Oh I can't wait for the corner sweet corn trucks to roll in.

TheOrganicSister said...

This look really yummy. And simple! Grilling really taste so much better doesn't it? I'll have to try this. Thanks for sharing. :)

~Tara