A Week Of Veggie Side Dishes: Vegetable Salad

Growing up, DH and I ate a lot of cooked veggies; from all sorts of beans, to peas, to corn. We did have some raw veggies; such as tomato slices, cucumbers, and an occasion salad. When we first got married, I served the same types of veggies. However, when we started on our journey to eating healthier, I looked for ways to include more raw veggies and other types of cooked veggies to our diet. I discovered some new ways to serve raw veggies and new recipes to try. So, all this week, I am sharing some of our favorites. 

The first recipe is a twist on a salad, but it doesn't use any salad greens. I call it a vegetable salad. I use 3 raw veggies as the base and then you can add other veggies to it. I add radishes and broccoli to it when I have them. How much you add of each is up to you and your family's taste. 

Here is what you will need: 

• a cucumber 
• a carrot  
• several florets of cauliflower
• radishes
• several florets of broccoli 

The ingredients. 

I start by cutting up the cauliflower florets into tiny. bite size pieces. I don't add as much cauliflower as I do other the veggies. 

Cauliflower cut up into bit size pieces.

Next, I grate the carrot, chopped up the cucumber, and slice the radishes. If you are adding broccoli, cut it up into bite size pieces ~ like the cauliflower. 

When you have all the veggies you want cut up and in a bowl, add ranch salad dressing to it. Again, you add as much or as little as you want. I like to add enough until all the veggies are well covered and slightly swimming in the dressing. 

This is a great side dish to serve on those hot summer days. It goes great with almost anything, but we really like it with roast beef or some sort of pork. An add plus is that it doesn't take much time to throw together. It is simply a yummy thing!