This recipe comes from our family friend Gretchen Bell. She brought this salad to an Easter dinner one year and was kind enough to share the recipe with me.

The salad is fresh and colorful and rather like a mild bread-and-butter pickle in flavor. Great for summertime picnics! I find it keeps well in the fridge for several days.

Ingredients

• 4 small zucchini, sliced paper-thin
• 4 small yellow squash, sliced paper-thin
• 1 red onion, finely diced
• 1 red pepper, finely diced
• ½ cup celery, finely diced
• 1 cup sherry or cider vinegar
• ½ cup sugar
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pepper

1. Combine all vegetables in a heat-resistant bowl.
2. Place the dressing ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil, cooking until the sugar dissolves.
3. Pour the hot dressing over the vegetables, and stir to combine.
4. Allow to marinate for 2 hours. Drain and serve.

Notes

This same process works well with a variety of other vegetables. I’ve tried haricots verts (blanch for 2 minutes first), corn, edamame, cabbage, and red onion + garlic. Delicious!

For A Common Table (cooking for 40-50), we used three large (Costco) bags of squash, two large red onions, four peppers, and a full head of celery. For the dressing, 2 quarts of cider vinegar, 3 cups of sugar, 1 cup of olive oil, and 2 tablespoons each of salt and pepper.