Monday, August 2, 2010

Quick Marinated Veggies for Sandwiches or Salads


Being part Italian I love pickled food. Giardiniera is one of my favorite things and I love any variation of it. My hubby is not as enamored with pickled veggies though he does tolerate them. I like to make these quick pickled veggies to use on collard wraps and on salads. Since my dad likes them too I always make a big jar so I have plenty to share. Here is what I made this morning:

Quick Marinated Veggies for Sandwiches or Salads
Makes 16 servings of about ½ cup each

Ingredients:

3 carrots
1 large cucumber
1 red bell pepper
½ red onion
2 cups white vinegar (or apple cider or wine vinegar)
2 cups water
either: hot crushed peppers, stevia, or olives – optional
other possible additions: jalapeno slices, dried oregano, garlic

Directions:

Slice the carrot, cucumber and onion very thinly on a mandoline. Use the thinnest setting on your mandoline. Place the veggies in a large container with a tight seal. I find it easier to slice the bell pepper into thin strips with my chef knife.

Cover the veggies with equal amounts of vinegar and water. If you want them hot add peppers, for sweetness include stevia for saltiness add olives. Store the veggies in the refrigerator until you need them. Because of the acidity these will keep quite a while if kept cold.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 19.47
Calories From Fat (4%) - 0.74

Total Fat - 0.1g
Saturated Fat - 0.02g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 12.66mg
Potassium - 125.61mg
Total Carbohydrates - 5.23g
Fiber - 0.87g
Sugar - 1.41g
Protein - 0.46g

Comments:

You can adjust the acidity by increasing or decreasing the proportion of vinegar in the recipe. I always drain mine fairly well before adding them to salads or sandwiches to reduce the acid a little. I find equal measures of water and vinegar seems to work for most palates. However I think my husband would vote for less vinegar. ;-) If you like marinated veggies on sandwiches this is a good all purpose mix. By using a mandoline to slice the veggies thinly they pickle quickly and are easy to use on a wrap.

I decided to post this recipe because I was emailing a friend this morning and they asked how I made the quick pickled veggies so I thought she wasn’t the only one who may want to see the recipe. This is really more of the method than a recipe. The only trick is to thinly slice things and keep them covered in the marinade. Other than that it is as simple as it looks.

Unrelated notes:


Guess who didn’t have a real dinner again last night? Yep, us. We had a bowl of pickled kohlrabi, carrots, cucumbers, apple cider vinegar and dill.


To go with that we had some sliced heirloom tomatoes with a little pomegranate molasses, sumac and parsley.

While we watched the movie we snacked on a little air popped white popcorn.


This morning once Dan left for work and cleaned up the kitchen I made myself three collard wraps for breakfast. I added a little lentil walnut pate, sliced tomato, thinly sliced red cabbage, shredded yellow squash and sriracha. It was an odd breakfast, but tasty.

I need to go get few things accomplished around here. However, I should be back later today with another recipe, just as soon as I think of something to make. LOL

Quick Question:

Do you find it useful to see what we eat on a daily basis?  I have gotten a lot of email quesitons about that which is why I am doing to do it more often now.  I get the feeling many of you run out of healthy food ideas.  But it is just TMI and not that useful I would like to know that too.  Thanks for letting me know! :-)

Talk to you later. I hope everyone is having a great Monday. It is gray and rainy here making it easy to stay inside and get things done. ;-)

18 comments:

  1. Wow this looks sooo good ,thanks so much for sharing(smile)when you have time and your not busy cooking or blogging please stop by my new upcoming blog if you would like feel free to follow as well
    Kat

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  2. Kat,

    Thanks! :-)

    I am following you now. Can't wait to hear about the online nutrition classes you have been taking. ;-)

    Ali

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  3. I love seeing what you have on a daily basis. It gives me great ideas, about 1/2 of the time I use something from your blog in my menu. Thanks for your hard work, I know this takes a lot of time and attention but you are helping a lot of us stick to health supporting foods.

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  4. Heidi,

    Thank you so much for letting me know. The feedback is very useful in terms of telling me what I should be focusing on when I write the post the posts.

    If you ever have any questions feel free to ask. ;-)

    Ali

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  5. Those pickles look so pretty. And I love the idea of those tomatoes...tomato slices are one of my favorite summertime dishes...and I just got some pommegranite molasses too, so will have to try that combo soon.

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  6. Rose,

    Thanks, I thought so too. All I did was open the frig and shot the pic, so it must have been the light from the frig, LOL.

    I adore pomegranate molasses. I think you will like it on tomatoes. It is also amazing on hummus.

    I hope you had a good weekend, your breaded "scallops" of tofu were beautiful.

    Ali

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  7. Hi! I am so thrilled to find this blog. It's the perfect blog for recovering foodies/aspiring nutritarians like me! :-) I've already attempted a few of your recipes with great success. I'm looking forward to your first cookbook! ;-) Thanks so much for creating such an amazing resource/inspiration!

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  8. tracijune,

    Awwww, you just made my day. Thank you so much! I consider myself a recovering foodie as well so I feel your pain. If you have any recipe ideas, foods you used to love, please let me know. I will try to make a healthy version for the blog.

    It took me a while to fully commit (salt and no oil issues) to E2L but if you stick with it the health benefits are amazing. I still can't get over that my blood pressure is better at 48 than most people in their 20's. I feel fabulous eating this way.

    thanks again,
    Ali

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  9. Oh, that giardiniera looks good. I just made sweet homemade pickles but I'm not too big on the sweetness. I've only had storebought giardiniera, and in that I really liked the cauliflower.

    I am a new reader to your blog but I am enjoying what I have read so far. I find that the updates of every meal can be really helpful to get the complete picture of what someone eats. I think for someone like me (I try to post 4-5 times a week) it would get really boring to see each meal I eat - a lot of leftovers from when I cook!

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  10. Oh Giardiniera, how I love thee :-) Yours looks so pretty in the jar!

    Did you try the trick for making nutritional yeast stick to popcorn last night?

    Courtney

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  11. Jessica,

    I love pickled cauliflower too. When I am making this for salads only I slice the veggies thicker and add cauliflower, green beans, and/or mushrooms.

    Thanks for the feedback on the meals, that really helps.

    Thank you also for the compliment. I really appreciate it.

    Ali

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  12. Courtney,

    I think you are one that inspired this. Hearing about your pickled salads had me craving this. I love it on my sandwiches in place of other condiments.

    I wanted to try the popcorn trick but Dan was worried about it. Now I know I have to try it while he is at work first. *shake head* Men! *huff* I will definitely try it soon though and let you know. ;-)

    Ali

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  13. Thanks for sharing this, Ali! A friend of mine just asked me for ideas on what to do with all of the cucumbers from her garden, so I sent her this link. :)

    xoxo,
    LJ

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  14. LJ,

    What a great problem to have. I wish it were mine. ;-)

    Ali

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  15. I really enjoy reading what people eat on a daily basis, so keep it up. :)

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  16. Susan,

    Thanks for the input. Apparently daily eats are more popular than I thought. *scratches head*

    Ali

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  17. Ali,

    Unless you can replicate southern fried chicken with mashed potatoes, I probably should stick with finding new and interesting flavor combinations. ;-) Good thing you've got such diverse offerings!

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  18. Tracijune,

    I did a millet and mashed cauliflower not long ago which is surprisingly like mashed potatoes. Did you see that one?

    Without frying or fat the chicken will be tougher. But I will think about it and see if I can come up with something. ;-)

    If you think of anything else let me know. Thanks again for making my day.

    Ali

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