I love vegetables, which is one of the reasons spring and summer are my favorite times of the year. The other reason I love this time of year…I hate cold weather. These seasons bring three months of abundant vegetables from the garden. And with the garden abundance comes my Colorful Veggie Salad.
Not long after moving to our small suburban homestead, we held our first of many summer cookouts. I was racking my brain for something different to serve as a side dish. I wanted something other than the usual cookout standbys like potato salad and baked beans.
My gaze landed on the box of extra produce sitting on my kitchen counter. The most recent garden picking yielded some extra vegetables I didn’t know for sure what I was going to do with. Some I planned giving to the chickens. I knew the girls would have no problems making use of them.
As I gazed at the box of colorful veggies, the wheels in my mind started turning. Or as my husband would say, “What are you thinking about honey, there’s a burning smell in the air?”
I love coleslaw, which the cabbage would be great for that but why not spice it up a bit? I had all these other colorful vegetables including zucchini, yellow squash, carrots, and radishes. Hmm, it would be a very pretty dish, but how would it taste all mixed together like a coleslaw?
My Colorful Veggie Salad started as a “catch-all” for unused vegetables, but soon became a requested dish for every cookout. After all these years, it’s still a favorite of our family and friends.
I hope you enjoy it too.
Colorful Veggie Salad
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 small head green cabbage
- 1 small head red cabbage
- 2 medium carrots
- 1 medium zucchini squash
- 1 medium yellow squash
- 1 medium sweet onion
- 1 bunch radishes
Dressing
- 1 cup creamy Italian dressing
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons sugar
Instructions
Salad
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Wash all vegetables thoroughly and dry with paper towels.
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Prepare vegetables in the following manner: Cut ends off the squash and onion and peel the onion; do not peel the squash. Scrub carrots and wash radishes. Cut the tops and end off carrots and radishes, being sure to remove all the stem from the tops. Peel outside leaves off the red and green cabbage. Cut heads in half and remove cores. Cut heads in quarters or small enough to go through the shredder.
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Shred all vegetables, medium fine. You don’t want your vegetables too fine or too large. Place in large mixing bowl and stir until well combined. Set aside.
Dressing
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In small bowl, mix together Italian dressing and apple cider vinegar. Add salt and sugar and mix well.
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Pour dressing mix over vegetables and stir until well combined.
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Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.
Recipe Notes
Minimum refrigeration is 2 hours, however letting it set for 24 hours gives your salad an even better flavor.
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