I don’t know about where you live, but here in New Mexico we went from cool spring temperatures to the heat of the summer overnight. This week the temperatures have been in the triple digits, a real challenge for our swamp cooler. As a result, meal criteria is now “easy to make, at least one cold dish, and any cooking is on the grill”. Last night’s meal met this criteria to a T: grilled soy-ginger chicken and this Pickled Vegetable Salad – two very complementary dishes.
This salad is made with lightly pickled cucumber, diakon radish, and carrots, topped with mint, sesame seeds and roasted peanuts. The vegetables are marinated in a light dressing for at least two hours. The other ingredients are added once the vegetables are served on the plates. It’s extremely easy to make, quite refreshing, and with a slightly sweet and tangy flavor.
For the salad in the pictures, I used a purple daikon radish. and a mix of mint and Thai basil for the garnish.
Pickled Vegetable Salad
“*” See Kitchen Notes for more information or links to special ingredients.
- 1 large cucumber, peeled and sliced thin
- 1 4” Daikon or 3 large red radishes, sliced thin*
- 1 large carrot, sliced thin
- 2 tsp. sugar
- ¼ cup rice wine vinegar
- 1 tsp. soy sauce
- ½ tsp. toasted or dark sesame seed oil
- 3 Tbsp. chopped roasted peanuts*
- 2 Tbsp. lightly toasted sesame seeds
- 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint or Thai basil*
Place the sliced vegetables in a large Ziplock bag or plastic container with a tight seal lid.
- Whisk together the sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, and sesame oil until the sugar is dissolved. Pour into bag with the vegetables. Seal. Move the vegetables around to distribute the marinade and to coat the vegetable pieces.
- Press as much air as possible from the bag and seal tightly. Lay flat on a shelf in the refrigerator. Marinate at least 2 hours, turning the bag over after an hour. (I usually prep the vegetables in the morning and let them marinate all day, turning once.)
- When ready to serve, drain the marinade from the bag and place the vegetables on serving plates.
- Top with mint (or basil), peanuts and sesame seeds.
Daikon or regular radish – Daikon is milder than regular radish so if you aren’t a big fan of the little round red radishes, then use daikon.
Roasted Peanuts – I usually use salted roasted peanuts, which provides the needed salt for this salad. If the peanuts you use aren’t salted, then you might need to add a touch of salt.
Mint or Thai Basil – A sweet mint is our favorite. However, we also like to mix it up with a little Thai basil.
This salad keeps very well in the refrigerator for a couple of days; therefore, any leftovers make a nice lunch.
If you like this Pickled Vegetable Salad, then here are a few other refreshing salads for the warmer months of the year.
Ti is perfectly my kind of salad…loads of veggies and light dressing is what I love in my salad. And the addition of sesame and peanuts is so very Indian…would love to try your version.
I’m a salad girl and yours sounds terrific. We’ve really not had any hot weather here in New England but I’d enjoy this dish any day.
What a tasty looking salad. I love the addition of sesame seeds and Thai basil. 🙂
Thanks Ramona!
wow, Simply damn delicious n comforting pickle…
cant wait to try some!!!
Dedy@Dentist Chef
Thanks Dedy! Hope you enjoy!
lovely salad
Thanks Remy!
Gorgeous salad! I love the color of the thinly sliced radishes!
Thanks Tessa! That purple daikon does make a beautiful slice, doesn’t it?
Delicious pickled vegetable salad, love to try it, I am pining to my salad board MJ. lovely and colorful.
Thanks so much Swathi!
I love pickles actually I am crazy about pickles, especially quick pickles. Beautiful colors and flavors…I have read through ingredients twice and still stunned that this recipe does not have chili… LOL Just wondering what beautiful photo… I want to share. Have a super weekend!
Ha Ha – yes, no chile. I thought about though. 🙂 Thanks Bobbi!
Sounds like the New Mexico weather is similar to what we’ve had in Atlanta. We went from spring to mid-90s in June. I think you guys have dryer heat than us. We have very high humidity here, so it’s sometimes unbearable. This salad looks so delicious. I’m putting this on my to-do list to accompany something grilled.
Oh we are much drier than you. I’d much rather be here in 95 degree weather than where you are. hope you enjoy the salad!
I was on a look out for a vegetable pickle recipe and this sounds so easy and simple. Beautiful pics as always.
Thanks so much Nisa!
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A coworker and I were just talking about making pickles – Having never made them myself, I was wondering if vinegar was the only main component and then I saw this recipe, MJ! This fresh salad is so colorful, and sounds incredibly tasty! Have you ever marinated it longer than 2 hours?
Thank you so much Shashi! Yes, sometimes I marinate overnight, especially if I know I won’t have time in the morning. Just as an FYI, the longer you marinade, the soft the vegetables become so for the salad, I try to do a shorter marinade. Tonight I’m using some of the leftovers, which are pretty soft, as a topping for tacos which will work great. This is such an easy way to pickle, you should start with this. You’ll the results.
Oh MJ, this is gorgeous! I can’t keep my eyes off your photos and the subtle play of colors and textures in this salad. Complementary dishes indeed and you know, I’ve been investigating quick pickling methods more and more and I’m loving your approach here – 2 hours I can do! We enjoy pickled veggies at mealtime but possibly even more during cocktail hour when we are both hungry but don’t necessarily want to inhale two cups of nuts ;-). We were just sampling our Thai basil from the garden this past weekend — there is nothing like it! Cannot wait to try this. A little touch of sesame oil goes a long way to transforming taste, doesn’t it? So lovely … thank you. Enjoy the heat (I hear you on the snap change in weather).
Thanks so much Kelly! These lightly pickled vegetables would be perfect for cocktail hour. As you probably already know, the longer you marinate them, the softer they get, so after 2 hours they still have some crispiness to them. After sitting overnight, I like to chop them up and use them as garnish on tacos and such. And yes…a little sesame oil does go a long way!!
This definitely would be good with grilled meats. Yum!
You got that right Raymund! Thanks!
The heat here in NYC is pretty unbearable even it’s only in the 90s because of the humidity and I definitely need refreshing dishes like the pickled vegetable salad in days like today. Thanks for sharing the wonderful recipe!
Oh…you can keep your humidity Yi! Ours is a dry heat, so it’s doesn’t feel as hot as 90 degrees + 90% humidity. 🙂 Thanks for your comments!
They look so crunchy and totally refreshing!
Thanks Angie!
Lovely pickled salad with Asian notes mostly, like the daikon and mint…and the peanuts. yep has gotten pretty warm here too fast.
Thanks Evelyne! Yes, it does have quite a bit of Asian influence. 🙂
We really have a precious link, dear MJ… I spent whole last Sunday (even if the weather was quite cool) pickling and preserving food…
Your salad looks so gorgeous thanks to the different vegetables you have included! I often add some carrots to my green tomato preserved salad which otherwise doesn’t look very cheerful, but I never think to add colour to my short-term fridge pickles… Great idea. And the bag method is a fantastic idea too! I always bother with jars, which have to be big enough but not too big, the brine amounts have to be quite big too… Next time I’ll try simply a bag. Thank you so much for this wise trick. (The Thai basil looks really beautiful on your plate, by the way!).
Yes, we do don’t we. While you were pickling on Sunday I was mixing some “surpirse parsley” in with my scrambled eggs. SO good! A mix of colored vegetables make a beautiful salad. Next, I’m going to try adding beets, even though I’m not a big fan. I might like them pickled. Oh the bag methods works for just about any type of marinade. I’ve been using it religiously for years. It takes up less space in the fridge and I think it makes the marinating go even faster. You should give it a try. Thanks for all of your comments Sissi!
I’m so happy you like mitsuba! Thank you for kind messages! I’ll try your method very soon.
I love pickled veggies but haven’t tried Daikon yet. Your recipe is easy and beautiful setting out on a plate. It’s perfect for the warm summer weather.
Thanks so much Vicki! The daikon pickles quite nicely. It’s already mild for a radish and the pickling makes it even milder.
Triple digits?! Wow, we haven’t reached that yet (maybe 96 for a high thus far). But summer is definitely here, so this would be a most welcome salad. Love pickled things, and this looks superb. Thanks!
Yep – We’ve been above 100F for a few days now. Hopefully it breaks soon. Thanks for you comment!
It’s not hot here but I would be more than happy, bordering on eager to eat this pickled vegetable salad!
Thanks so much Maureen! I can see it being served year round.