Farmer's Market Vegetable Salad is a seasonally delicious and healthy salad that is a great accompaniment to any meal, or as an entire meal in and of itself!
Whether you grow your own vegetables at home, visit a local farmer's market for seasonal produce, or shop at your neighborhood grocery store, you simply must add this Farmer's Market Fresh Vegetable Salad to your menu while Mother Nature's bounty of summertime goodness is at its peak of flavor!
**Please Note - The printable recipe card with detailed instructions, complete ingredient measurements, and nutritional information for making Farmer's Market Veggie Salad is available at the end of this post.
The ingredient list:
- Fresh Green Beans
- Cherry or Grape Tomatoes
- Zucchini
- Sweet Corn
- Red Onion
- Jalapeno Pepper
- Goat Cheese
- Cilantro
- Balsamic Vinegar
- Olive Oil
- Dijon Mustard
- Minced Garlic
- Honey
- Salt and Pepper
Mother Nature's best and brightest shine in this crisp and crunchy Farmer's Market Vegetable Salad.
This salad is then topped with a lightly sweet homemade vinaigrette and creamy goat cheese to round out all the flavors.
Check out my latest and greatest Kudos Kitchen tasty BBQ side dishes recipe roundup.
To blanch or not to blanch. That is the question!
Typically when you assemble this type of fresh vegetable salad you blanch the fresh green beans and corn to soften them slightly making them not so raw tasting, and a little easier to chew.
However, I chose to lightly microwave the green beans and corn to soften them slightly and to take some of the complete rawness out of them.
This technique worked wonderfully well and was a nice time saver as well as making clean-up just a little bit easier.
How to easily remove corn kernels from ears of sweet corn:
To remove the corn kernels from the cobs I ran a sharp knife down each cob of corn, extracting only the kernels.
- A good trick for doing this is to place a small inverted bowl inside a larger bowl and then vertically stand the corn cob on the small bowl.
- Slice the kernels off the cob in downward strokes with a sharp knife. The kernels will fall directly into the larger bowl (most of them, anyway), keeping them from flying all around the kitchen and making a huge mess.
How to trim fresh green beans:
- To trim the green beans, I used a paring knife to remove the two ends and then cut each bean into 1½ - 2-inch pieces.
- I then placed both the corn kernels and the cut green beans in a microwave-safe bowl with a tablespoon or two of water, and microwaved them on high power for 3-4 minutes to slightly soften them, but not cook them completely through.
- Depending on the power of your microwave, the time frame you'll need to partially cook your vegetables will most likely differ. Please adjust your cooking time according to your desired doneness.
How to make a homemade vinaigrette for this salad:
The ingredients for the quick and easy homemade vinaigrette to top the Farmer's Market Vegetable Salad are probably things you already have on hand in your pantry and fridge.
They are balsamic vinegar, olive oil, Dijon mustard, minced garlic, honey, salt, and pepper.
- Shake up all the ingredients in a jar with a tight-fitting lid and pour it over the assembled salad and stir well to combine.
- Cover the salad and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours.
- Right before serving, top the salad with some crumbled goat cheese and some additional chopped cilantro if desired.
Want more fresh and healthy vegetable dishes?
Great! I've got several other suggestions that I think you'll enjoy. By clicking on the recipe titles below, you'll be taken directly to these delicious dishes that are Mother Nature-approved.
*Cucumber with Dill Pickle Dip (pictured below)
*Italian Layered Zucchini Parmesan
*Grilled Garden Harvest Polenta Stacks
*Spaghetti Squash & Zucchini Pancakes
*Roasted Golden Beet & Broccoli Salad (pictured below)
*Heart Healthy Avocado & Mango Salad
*Heirloom Tomato Salad with Lemon Infused Olive Oil
*Farmer's Market Veggie Salad (this post, pictured below)
Below is the printable recipe card and instructions for making for today’s healthy Farmer's Market Veggie Salad.
If you’ve enjoyed this recipe and look forward to making it (or have already made it), I’d appreciate if you’d take a moment to give it some feedback by way of stars near the comment section at the end of this post.
Farmer's Market Veggie Salad
Ingredients
- FOR THE VEGETABLES:
- 3 ears of fresh corn husks and silks removed and discarded, kernels removed and saved (approximately 2 cups)
- 1 pound of fresh green beans trimmed, and cut into 1½ - 2 inch pieces (approximately 3 cups)
- 3 cups grape tomatoes halved
- 1 small red onion chopped (approximately 1 cup)
- 1 medium zucchini chopped (approximately 1 cup)
- 1 medium jalapeno seeded and finely chopped (approximately 1½ tablespoons)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro plus more for garnish
- ½ cup crumbled goat cheese
- FOR THE DRESSING:
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1½ tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon honey
- pinch salt pinch pepper
Instructions
- TO ASSEMBLE THE SALAD:
- Place the cut green beans and the corn kernels in a large microwave safe bowl along with 2 tablespoons water.
- Cover and microwave on high for 2 minutes. Remove. Stir.
- Return the corn and green beans to the microwave and microwave for an additional 2-3 minutes. Remove and cool slightly.
- Add the grape tomato halves, red onion, zucchini and chopped jalapeno to the corn and beans.
- Stir in the salt, pepper and chopped cilantro.
- TO MAKE THE DRESSING:
- Place all of the ingredients into a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake well to combine.
- Pour half of the vinaigrette over the fresh vegetables and stir well to combine.
- Cover the salad and refrigerate at least 4 hours.
- Before serving add more salt and pepper (if needed) and more of the vinaigrette (if desired), and stir.
- Before serving, garnish top the salad with crumbled goat cheese and chopped cilantro if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
I'm happy to be linking up this recipe with Meal Plan Monday!
I sincerely hope you've enjoyed today's recipe for Farmer's Market Veggie Salad as much as I've enjoyed bringing it to you!
Thank you so much for visiting me today in my Kudos Kitchen. I hope you found something you'll love and that you'll come back and visit me often. There is always room for you around my table!
Should you have any questions or comments regarding anything you've seen here on my blog, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. It is always my distinct pleasure to respond to you just as soon as I possibly can.
Dara Michalski says
I love how fresh this salad is!
Renée says
I'm glad. Thanks, Dara!
wilhelmina says
This is fabulous! What a great way to showcase all those fresh veggie flavors!
Renée says
Thanks, Wilhelmina!