Rainbow Veggie Salad
Loaded with more so much nutritious stuff, this Rainbow Veggie Salad is as good for you and as pleasing to the taste buds as it is colorful!
Corn is in season once again... You know what that means, right? Summer is soon coming to an end and FALL is just around the corner. Or almost…
But I don’t mind, really. As much as I love summer, I think that Fall is the most beautiful season of all. The air gets all nice and fresh, it smells super good and the trees they get soooooo colorful!
Just like this salad… It has the exact same vibrant colors. The yellows and the reds and oranges, the greens, the purple and even the different shades of brown… they are ALL present.
And of course, the flavors and textures are just as varied as the colors. You get the crunchy, the creamy, the soft, the crispy, the sweet, the tangy, the buttery, and salty… all at once, in every single bite. Ah! My kind of salad, really! This one is so sturdy, you can safely make a large batch of and keep it in the fridge for several days. Very convenient when you are extremely busy and don’t have much time to cook… Or want to make the most of what’s left of summer!
Just open the fridge, throw some in a bowl, and you’re good to go!
To remove the corn kernels from the cob quickly, efficiently, and most of all, without sending corn flying all over your kitchen, place the ear of corn straight up in the chimney of a tube or bundt pan (the hole will hold it securely in place), and then, with a sharp knife, cut the kernels off from top to bottom: the kernels will fall right into the pan! Turn the corn and repeat until all the kernels are cut from the cob.
In the picture above, the corn had been cooked, but the principle is the exact same with raw corn. Oh, and you could just as well used cooked corn in this recipe, if that’s all you had on hand…
Now that the corn has been dealt with, prep the rest of your ingredients/vegetables. We’re talking 1 of each red, orange and yellow bell peppers, a bunch of green beans, the same amount of wax beans, a handful of red onions, some chopped parsley, sliced kalamata olives, chopped walnuts and grated Parmesan cheese.
Then, make the dressing by combining some extra-virgin olive oil, Dijon mustard, unswseetened applesauce, lime juice, garlic, fresh thyme, salt and pepper in a small measuring cup.
Whisk all those ingredients really well and pour that vinaigrette right over the salad…
Give everything a good stir… and serve your salad right away, or refrigerate it for a few hours to allow all those beautiful flavors to fully develop
Like I said before, this salad is extremely sturdy, so it can very well be made up to a day ahead of time and any leftovers will keep well in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
Rainbow Veggie Salad
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 cups raw corn kernels*, (from 1 or 2 ears)
- 1 of each red yellow and orange bell peppers , diced
- ½ small red onion, finely chopped
- 1 cup green beans, cut into 1" pieces
- 1 cup wax beans, cut into 1" pieces
- 1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup sliced kalamata olives
- 1/4 cup walnuts, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup grated fresh Parmesan, (or sharp cheddar or emmental)
Vinaigrette
- ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
- The juice of 1 lime
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme
- ¾ tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- In a small glass measuring cup or bowl, combine all the ingredients for the vinaigrette and mix until well combined; set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the corn kernels, bell peppers, red onion, green beans, wax beans, parsley, olives, walnuts and grated cheese. Pour the reserved vinaigrette right in and toss until well combined.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate for a few hours to allow the flavors to fully develop.
- This salad can even be made up to a day ahead of time and any leftovers will keep well in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
Notes
Nutrition
If you’ve tried this recipe, please take a minute to rate the recipe and let me know how things went for you in the comments below. It’s always such a pleasure to hear from you!
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*Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in September of 2012 and has since been completely revamped and updated with better pictures. A few minor modifications to the original recipe may also have been made.
24 Comments on “Rainbow Veggie Salad”
Those colors are fabulous. I too like cooking with all of the colors of the veggie spectrum, it makes the food so much more interesting. Thanks for the great recipe!
This has absolutely nothing to do with the salad above (which looks delicious by the way), but I have a recipe request for you.
Could you try to create a (healthy) Chocolate Beet Cake? I had one a while ago from a restaurant and it was amazing! I’ve been wanting to re-create it for a while now, but can’t find any good recipes. Think you could take on the challenge?
Thanks so much, whether you make it or not!
LOVE the idea! I just made Zucchini Pumpkin Chocolate Muffins which turned out amazing, but I really love the idea of Chocolate Beet Cake! I shall definitely give it a go sometime this Fall! 🙂
Great idea Ruta! Sonia, can’t wait to see what you come up with!
WOW – this salad looks incredible. It’s definitely going on the table this week! I made rainbow veggie quesadillas tonight but this looks much more elegant – would love to enjoy this with a glass of wine. Great recipe, thank you!
Okay I know I’m replying to my own comment, but I just wanted to let you know how delicious this salad was – I made it for dinner tonight and it was AWESOME. My husband had seconds – and then said it was one of the best things he’d eaten in weeks. So much fun to make, too – just chop it all up, I eyeballed everything, and it came out great. Thank you for a great recipe!
So happy to hear that, Jessica! Thank you so much for your awesome feedback! 🙂
Gorgeous! And using apple sauce in the dressing? Wow, I never thought of that, but it’s totally genius! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
This salad is beautiful! I love the rainbow of colors. I can’t wait to try it!
This looks wonderful! I will definitely try it!
This salad was wonderful. I made it today, the first of many of your recipes I intend to make, and it was delicious. Thank you so much. I loved the applesauce dressing.
Glad you liked, Julee, and thank YOU much for the great feedback. Hope you like the next ones just as much! 🙂
I am so going to try this…I’m not a huge parsley fan, so I may sub spinach instead. Either way, I’m excited!
I like this idea, Cierra! Let me know how it turns out if you do give it a try! 😀
Thank you so much for this fabulous recipe! We made it with double the amount of chopped spinach in place of parsley and threw in some chopped mushroom because we had some leftover. My youngest, pickiest eater didn’t want to try it until I agreed to sprinkle some chopped, cooked bacon on his but then he gobbled it up. I figured one slice of bacon for all those great veggies was a fair trade!
Awesome! So happy to hear. Thanks a bunch for taking the time to share this great feedback too. I sincerely appreciate it! 🙂
Is there a substitution for the applesauce? I don’t use it regularly and hate to buy some for a 1/4 cup. The salad looks wonderful.
Its looks wonderful. I don’t know how to make cake but now i will definitely try it. Great
This salad is absolutely delicious and a perfect pot luck dish that will have folks begging for more and the recipe! I added chickpeas and air-fried the fresh corn for a few minutes with olive sprinkled with a little garlic powder.
*olive oil* whooops!
Glad you liked it!! Thanks a bunch for the great feedback, it’s really appreciated! 🙂