MARINATED SUMMER VEGETABLE SALAD

These past few days we have all been about salads, in this house.  We actually had a two day heat wave…mercy…even here on the West Coast!!  I never did find out what the temperature was.  When you see flowers wilt on the West Coast, and they have already been watered…it is hot!

All the vegetables and herbs in this salad (except the tomatoes) came from my garden!  We are finally getting a few zucchinis and green and yellow beans.  What a summer it has been!  If this nice weather stays a few more weeks, fingers crossed, we should get quite a bit more vegetables.  This is much more than I thought we would get this year – I could not be happier.

This salad is a lovely way to enhance fresh summer vegetables, and so pretty too.  For the broccoli I just eyeballed the amount.

5 small beets – I roasted them  in wrapped tinfoil at 375 for about 1 hour, or until tender

1 bunch of mixed green and yellow beans, cut in half

Broccoli florets

1 small yellow and green zucchini quartered

1/4 cup sliced red onion

1/4 cup fresh Minced Basil

1 tsp. Fresh Minced Rosemary

2 Tblsp. Fresh Minced Italian Flat Leaf Parsley

2 chopped Roma Tomatoes

Dressing:

2 1/2 Tblsp. Red Wine Vinegar

Extra Virgin Olive Oil – a 4 to 1 ratio with the vinegar

1 minced garlic clove

salt and pepper to taste

Blanch the broccoli and beans for one minute, drain, and add to cold water to completely cool.  Then drain and place onto a clean towel, patting dry.  Once the beets have cooled, rub off the skin, and slice into a small bowl.  Drizzle with a little Extra Virgin Olive oil, salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

Add the other vegetables and herbs to a bowl, then the broccoli and beans.

Mix up the dressing, pouring over the vegetables, toss well to coat.

Add in the roasted beets last then refrigerate a couple of hours for all the flavors to come together.