This marinated vegetable salad recipe is loaded with vegetables and marinated in a tangy dressing. It can be made ahead of time, and it's perfect for a picnic, barbeque, or a great salad to take for lunch.
Although salad generally contains lettuce, this marinated vegetable salad recipe is lettuce-free. Instead, the vegetables marinate in a tangy dressing overnight. As a result, the marinated vegetable salad tastes fabulous with intense flavors.
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Most marinated vegetable salads contain all raw vegetables. My salad includes partially roasted and raw vegetables!
What are partially cooked vegetables? I don't like raw broccoli. I think some vegetables taste better when partially cooked to absorb the flavors of the dressing.
Not only does partially cooking vegetables allow for better absorption of the dressing, but it also makes the vegetable crisp, less bitter, and easier to eat and digest.
Marinated Vegetable Salad Ingredients
Partially Cooked Vegetables
- Cauliflower: Cauliflower is high in vitamins C and K and is also a good source of folate, supporting cell growth and essential during pregnancy. Cauliflower is fat-free and cholesterol-free.
- Broccoli: Broccoli is a nutrient-rich vegetable that may enhance your health in various ways, such as reducing inflammation, improving blood sugar control, boosting immunity, and promoting heart health. However, remember that good health doesn't come from any single food.
- Carrots: The vitamin C in carrots helps your body build antibodies that defend your immune system. Vitamin C also helps your body take in and use iron and prevent infections.
Raw Vegetable Ingredients
- Cucumber: Because cucumbers have seeds in the middle and grow from the flower of a cucumber plant, they are botanically a fruit. Botanical vegetables may be other edible plant structures, such as the leaves, stems, and roots, and they do not have seeds.
- Red Onion: Red onions are a great source of antioxidants, which boost immunity. They contain vitamins A and C and quercetin and sulfur compounds. These nutrients work together to improve the body's ability to fight off infections
- Grape Tomatoes: Grape tomatoes are oblong and shaped like grapes. They're about half the size of cherry tomatoes, with thicker skins. Grape tomatoes aren't as sweet as cherry tomatoes; their flesh is meatier and less watery.
- Baby Bell Peppers: Mini sweet peppers are crunchy with a mild flavor that is sweeter than regular-sized bell peppers.
How to Make Marinated Vegetable Salad
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Prepare a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Cut the broccoli and cauliflower into bit-sized florets of similar sizes.
- Peel and cut the carrot into equal-sized slices.
- To partially cook the cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots, roast them for 15 minutes (half the time normally required to roast vegetables completely).
- The vegetables are softer and more porous.
- Then, allow the partially cooked vegetables to cool completely.
- The raw vegetables, on the other hand, are cut into bite-sized pieces and remain raw.
- Since the salad is dressed a day before eating, I removed the seeds from the cucumber to avoid excess water to prevent the marinated vegetable salad from becoming soggy.
- Next, I combined the cooled partially cooked vegetables with raw vegetables and dressed the salad in advance.
- Once dressed, stir the salad to coat all the vegetables, cover, and place in the refrigerator overnight.
- Stir again a few times throughout the day, ensuring the dressing is absorbed.
Salad Dressing Ingredients
- Red Wine Vinegar: Red wine vinegar
- Water: The water emulsifies the dressing without using any oil.
- Dijon Mustard: Dijon mustard has a tangy, rich taste.
- Garlic: I prefer using fresh garlic when making homemade salad dressings.
- Salt: Salt helps enhance the taste of the ingredients in the dressing.
- Pepper: Pepper enhances the flavors in the dressing.
- Maple Syrup: Maple syrup naturally sweetens the dressing.
- Shallot: Shallots have a flavor that some people describe as onion with a hint of garlic on the finish. They are peppery like raw red onion but get sweet when cooked. Their flavor is a bit more delicate than that of onions.
- Rosemary: Rosemary has a flavor described as piney, resinous, astringent, peppery, lemony, and woodsy.
- Thyme: has a delightful flavor balance that dances between earthy and minty, minty and citrus-laced, savory but sweet, and slightly woodsy but also flowery, with traces of lavender or toned-down rosemary.
Salad Dressing Ingredient Substitutions
- Choose balsamic or white wine vinegar instead.
- Stone-ground mustard is similar to Dijon mustard.
- One clove of garlic equals about ⅛th of a teaspoon of garlic powder.
- Agave or date syrup is a substitute for maple syrup.
- Red onion is a substitute for shallots.
- Double the amount of rosemary and skip the thyme, or vice versa.
Serve as a side salad or an entree salad. Marinated vegetable salad is easy to make but also excellent for a party or potluck.
And let's not forget the value of a quick and easy salad prepped the day before!
Recipe FAQs
For the best results, marinate the salad overnight. At a minimum, marinate for at least 30 minutes.
Marinating vegetables is the easiest way to infuse them with intense flavor.
It is best to marinate vegetables in the refrigerator.
Tips
- Cut vegetables into similar bite-sized pieces.
- Cooking the cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots allows them to absorb the marinade flavors and make sit easier to chew and digest.
- Allow the salad to marinate overnight for the best results.
- The vegetables remain crisp and are such a delicious side to any meal. If kept in an airtight container in the fridge, submerged in the marinade, marinated veggies can be kept for a long time, even up to a few months.
So, the next time you want a salad with vegetables without lettuce, choose this marinated vegetable salad recipe.
More Vegan Salad Recipes to Enjoy!
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📖 Recipe
Marinated Vegetable Salad
Ingredients
Partially cooked vegetables
- ½ head cauliflower cut into bite-sized florets
- ½ head broccoli cut into bite-sized florets
- 2 large carrots cut into equal sized slices (coins)
Raw Vegetables
- 1 small red onion cut into thin slivers
- 5 baby bell peppers different colors sliced thin
- 1 English cucumber deseeded and sliced int bite-sized slices
- 6 ounces grape tomatoes I used different colors cut in halves
Oil-Free Dressing
- ¼ cup water
- 3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons dijon mustard
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon salt more to taste
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- 1 small shallot
- 1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary chopped
- 1 Tablespoon thyme chopped
Instructions
- Partially Roasted Vegetables
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Cut the broccoli and cauliflower into bite-sized florets (equal sizes).
- Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Roast broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots for 15 minutes.
- Remove partially roasted vegetables from the oven.
- Allow the vegetables to cool completely.
- In the meantime, prepare the raw vegetables
- Preparing raw vegetables
- Remove the seeds from the cucumber by slicing in half lengthwise, and using a spoon, carefully scrape the seeds from the cucumber, discard seed and pulp.
- Slice cucumber, red onion, baby bell peppers, and tomatoes.
- Salad Dressing
- Combine all ingredients, except for the rosemary and thyme, in a high-speed blender.
- Blend until smooth.
- Add chopped herbs and stir.
- Combine all the vegetables in a bowl.
- Pour the dressing over the vegetables.
- Toss the vegetables in the dressing.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight for the best results.
- Stir when possible a few times before serving.
Notes
- Cut vegetables into similar bite-sized pieces.
- Cooking the cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots allows them to absorb the marinade flavors and make sit easier to chew and digest.
- Allow the salad to marinate overnight for the best results.
- The vegetables remain crisp and are such a delicious side to any meal. If kept in an airtight container in the fridge, submerged in the marinade, marinated veggies can be kept for a long time, even up to a few months.
Nutrition
Hi! My name is Kathy, I am a retired high school English teacher & vegan enthusiast and blogger. My entire blog is fully plant-based vegan. I truly believe what we eat & how we live determines our health & the preservation of our planet! 🙂
Brenda
Great receipe
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Brenda, thank you. I hope you enjoyed the salad. Thank you for your feedback. I appreciate it.