Slow Cooker Summer Salad
Slow Cooker Chronicles
June 5, 2012 at 4:47 pm
by Heather Eng
While I’ve made some delicious meaty meals in my slow cooker, I was in the mood for something nice and light, this weekend. I love fresh summer produce and wanted to whip up a meal featuring veggies. And I was hoping for lots of healthy leftovers that I could bring to work.
I found inspiration in our July slow cooker story. Melissa Knific, one of Family Circle‘s food editors, created a gorgeous recipe for slow cooker summer succotash. And later in the day, I stumbled upon this equally beautiful recipe at Smitten Kitchen. All signs seemed to say I’d be making slow cooker succotash…until I found a dearth of lima beans while grocery shopping. (How does that happen?!)
Undeterred, I purchased shelled edamame instead and used both recipes as a guide. I ended up with a really bright, light, flavorful summer salad that I’d happily make again.
It was so simple, too. It just required lots of chopping:
…corn…
…onion…
…peppers…
…and tomatoes.
After two hours, I added thawed edamame.
Once done, I scooped the veggies into a salad bowl and added basil…
…and arugula. I dressed the salad with red wine vinegar, salt and pepper–and was very happy to have it for lunch yesterday and today.
Slow Cooker Summer Salad (adapted from Family Circle‘s Slow Cooker Summer Succotash and Smitten Kitchen‘s Summer Succotash with Bacon and Croutons)
Makes: 4 servings
Prep: 20 minutes
Slow Cook: on HIGH for 2 hours and LOW for 1 hour
Ingredients
4 corn cobs, kernels removed (about 2 1/2 cups kernels)
1 Vidalia onion, chopped
3 large sweet peppers (any combination of red, orange and yellow), diced into 1-inch pieces
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups shelled edamame, thawed
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, torn
2.5 oz. arugula (I just used half a 5 oz. clamshell)
red wine vinegar, salt and pepper to taste
Directions
1. Coat slow cooker bowl with nonstick cooking spray. Combine corn kernels, onion, peppers, tomatoes, garlic and 3/4 cup water. Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 hours. Stir in thawed edamame and cook on LOW for 1 more hour.
2. Transfer vegetables from slow cooker bowl into a salad bowl. Mix in basil and arugula. Dress with red wine vinegar, salt and pepper to taste.
What’s your favorite slow cooker summer dish? Share in the comments below.
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