Bean, Beet and Cucumber Salads

Recently, I’ve been trying some new (to us) salad recipes since, thanks to Grenville’s green thumbs, there’s a lot of fresh veggies from the  Frog & PenguINN garden. These recipes are different from some usual ones in that none use mayo or sour cream; instead all contain white vinegar, oil, and honey.

Yes, we do try all recipes posted in our blog. Some are slightly altered because of personal preferences or ingredient availability – if it’s not in the pantry, then it’s time to substitute.

These were served at the F&P when friends came for dinner a couple of weeks ago. All are from a recent addition to our cookbook collection,
Joy of Cooking Cookbook by Janet Ballantyne There’s always room for one more book, especially one that’s all about vegetables and similar to our favorite, Victory Garden Cookbook. And, it was a bargain at the local library’s sale table of withdrawn books.

If you have an abundance of beans, beets, or cucumbers, or just want to try a new recipe, then give one or more of these a try. They’re not only easy, but no cooking is required – a very good thing on HOT summer days here on the VA eastern shore.

Green Bean, Celery, and Kidney Bean Salad

• 4 C diagonally sliced beans
• 1/2 C sliced scallions
• 1 C diagonally sliced celery
• 1 C kidney beans
• 3 TBSP soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 tsp honey
• 1 tsp fresh ginger root
• 1/3 C wine vinegar
• 1/2 C vegetable oil

Note: substituted 1/2 tsp dried ginger for ginger root

1. Steam the beans until tender crisp, about 3 minutes, put into cold water and drain well after cooling.
2. In a large bowl, toss beans with scallions, celery and mushrooms.
3. Whisk together the soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, honey, ginger, vinegar, and vegetable oil.
4. Pour over salad, toss and serve.

Prep time: 30 minutes / 6 servings

Beets and Orange Salad

This is a very colorful dish with red beets and orange sections.

Cook beets  before peeling to retain color and flavor. Wash the beets well, trim off the greens and tap root, cover with water and boil about 20 minutes.

Cool and slice cooked beets and combine with orange sections and minced scallions (optional). Pour Honey Curry Dressing on top.

Honey Curry Dressing

• 2/3 C vegetable oil
• 3 TBSP lemon juice
• 2 TBSP white vinegar
• 1/4 C honey
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Whisk ingredients together and pour over beets and oranges.

Scandinavian Cucumber Salad

This recipe calls for a lot of cucumbers, and while we like them, we try to avoid eating the same salad all week. I only used half this amount of cukes and  reduced the other ingredients accordingly. But if you’re feeding a large group OR really like cukes, then use as posted.

• 8 C thinly sliced cucumbers
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 C white vinegar
• 1 TBSP sugar
• 2 tsp honey
• 1/4 C vegetable oil
• 1/4 C minced fresh dill, fennel, parsley or chives
• 1/2 C sliced red onion or scallions

1. Place the cucumbers in a colander and sprinkle with the salt. Weight the cucumbers with a heavy plate, drain for 1 hour, then transfer to a large bowl.
2. Mix vinegar, sugar, honey, oil. Pour over cucumbers. Toss in herbs and onion or scallions. Serve chilled

Prep time: 20 minutes + 1 hour for draining
Chill: at least 1 hour
Yield: 6-8 servings

Summertime is for salads