Fresh Vegetable Salad with Walnut Dressing
Ingredients
2 servings
- For the salad
- Tomato 2
- Cucumber 2-3
- Bell pepper 1
- Hot pepper 1
- Red onion 1
- Black pepper to taste
- Olive oil optional
- For the dressing
- Walnuts (shelled) 1 tbsp (8 g)
- Garlic 1 clove
- Cilantro, dill, parsley, basil to taste
- Salt a pinch
- Wine vinegar 1-2 tsp
Step-by-step recipe
Preparing the vegetables
I hardly need to remind you that a fresh vegetable salad calls for really fresh vegetables. Ideally they come straight from your own garden beds, carefully picked and still smelling of the garden. I remember how, as a child, we picked fresh tomatoes off the bushes at my grandmother’s, hunted for the greenest cucumbers, picked peppers and pinched off herbs. That amazing smell and taste, impossible to forget.
Wash the vegetables thoroughly and pat them dry. Since the vegetables are not heat-treated, washing is the key step. It is better to wash them properly than to deal with sudden problems later.
How to make the walnut dressing
Before making the salad, prepare the dressing.
Put 1 tbsp of shelled walnuts (8 g), one peeled garlic clove, some herb leaves and a pinch of salt into a blender. Leave a few leaves for garnish. Blend everything, add 1-2 tsp of wine vinegar and stir. It helps a lot to grind the mixture further in a mortar to a paste, so that no bits of nut are left in it.
By the way, I don’t add vegetable oil to the dressing, to keep the salad lower in calories.
How to cut and dress the vegetables
How you cut the vegetables is a purely personal matter. I like a salad of coarsely cut vegetables, but don’t turn them into mush either.
Cut the tomatoes, cucumbers and bell pepper. Cut ripe tomatoes into wedges, leaving the seeds and skin. To avoid bitterness, you can peel the cucumbers and cut them into rounds or cubes. Seed the bell pepper and cut it into rings or cubes, as you like.
Cut the hot pepper and onion into thin rings. Seed the hot pepper first and, if possible, remove the white inner membranes too.
The amount of hot pepper is strictly to your taste, but don’t leave it out altogether. Besides heat, hot pepper gives the salad a certain refinement. Also, a fresh vegetable salad is eaten before the main course and should whet the appetite.
For looks, it is better to use red onion. It is also sweeter and fits the salad perfectly.
Put all the cut vegetables in a large bowl, pour over the dressing of nuts, garlic and herbs, and toss gently so you don’t crush the tomato wedges.
If for some reason you feel you really must add vegetable oil to the salad, go ahead. But use good natural olive oil, it will be better.
Serving
Divide the salad among small salad bowls and garnish with fresh herb leaves. Serve right away, before the vegetables release their juice. I recommend seasoning the salad with black pepper just before serving, freshly ground.
If you serve the salad as a vegetable side dish, for example with homemade kebabs or very tasty chicken cutlets, just put the salad on the plate next to the main dish. You can also add pickled bell peppers.
Calories and macros
115 kcal
Serving ≈ 400 g
- Protein4 g16% of kcal
- Fat3 g26% of kcal
- Carbs16 g58% of kcal
100 g28 kcalProtein 1 gFat 0.8 gCarbs 3.9 g
Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.