May – Pickled Vegetable Salad, A Cure for Covid-19

Okay, so maybe mislead you with the title of this. Sorry. I don’t really have a cure for the virus. Don’t I wish! But maybe I have a partial cure for the extra inches on your waistline and hips as a result of the stay-at-home order. I know I have been entirely too comfortable, wearing only what I call my comfy clothes. What the heck, eh? Cooking and eating have sustained me these last six weeks, no guilt. But maybe an occasional lunch of something a little healthier would make me feel a little less guilty. The best thing about this dish is that…

1. You can make it ahead
2. It keeps for days without losing any flavor
3. There are almost zero calories
4. It’s full of nutrition and roughage
5. It makes for very satisfying chewing, it takes longer to eat so it fills you up
6. It tastes great
7. It can be used in many recipes (salads, taco topping, garnish, etc.)

My favorite is a big bowl of these vegetables with a scoop of cottage cheese or half an avocado (or both). For fancy you could add a sprinkling of feta and add some black olives (a drizzle of olive oil)…call it Greek salad.

This is perfect for hot days. It’s cooling and light as well as healthy.

Use whatever ingredients you have on hand. I used:

• 3 sweet peppers (one of those packages with a red, orange and yellow one) – thinly sliced
• 1 English cucumber, cut in half and then into half moons
• 1/2 of a large red onion, thinly sliced
• 12 of a green cabbage, thinly sliced

Brine:

• 1 cup of mild white vinegar, I used unflavored rice vinegar
• 1 cup of water
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1 tablespoon of kosher salt

Method:

1. Mix the brine ingredients together in a large bowl until the sugar and salt are dissolved
2. Add the vegetables to the bowl and mix to coat
3. Refrigerate at least an hour or up to a week

The salad will become more pickled over time.

Other vegetables to think about adding

• carrots
• celery
• red cabbage
• cauliflower

 

Another healthy and vegetable heavy idea would be Salad Soup. See the post from August 2018 on the link. It’s still one of my standard summer lunch go-to’s.

Enjoy, be safe.