Mediterranean Garden Vegetable Salad
This Mediterranean Garden Vegetable Salad is a delicious recipe to make when you want more than a lettuce salad with your dinner, but still desire something light and refreshing. I love that it uses bunches of garden vegetables and that it is so easy to prepare.
I recently made this dish when we had my folks over for dinner. We have been experiencing near 100 degree days here in Kansas this month, and the last thing I wanted to do was to heat my kitchen by cooking on the stove. So, instead, I turned to this light salad.
(Post modified with new photos on 7/6/22.)
This dish is full of bright colors that will make your plates pop with color, which is always nice on your table, whether you’re serving one or twelve! Plus, it’s a great way to use up some of your garden zucchini, tomatoes, or bell peppers.
Serve this garden vegetable salad with your favorite grilled chicken or pork. Or double this recipe for a perfect Potluck Dinner item.
Ingredients for Mediterranean Garden Vegetable Salad
See full recipe in its entirety at the bottom of this post.
- red tomatoes
- bell peppers (green, yellow, and/or red)
- red onion
- zucchini
- creamy Italian dressing
- minced garlic
- fresh basil
- fresh Mozzarella cheese
Instructions for Making This Recipe
Begin by gathering all your ingredients so that you have everything on the counter or table.
Prepare your Ingredients
Using a sharp Chef’s knife and cutting board, chop the tomatoes. For this salad, I like to chose fresh, bright red tomatoes, preferably with few seeds, such as Roma.
Next, slice a medium red onion. Red onions give the dish a lovely color. But a sweet onion would also work.
Cut one zucchini in half lengthwise, and then slice both halves.
Chop one bell pepper into bite-sized pieces. You may use green, yellow, or red bell pepper. Whatever you have on hand will work!
Chop the fresh basil.
Slice the fresh Mozzarella into bite-size pieces.
I love adding fresh mozzarella to a summer salad. It gives this dish the perfect taste and texture that everyone will enjoy.
Preparing the Salad
Place all of the prepared veggies into a large bowl and pour the Creamy Italian Dressing over them.
When selecting the Italian dressing, I like to use Olive Garden’s Signature Italian Dressing, which is sort of a cross between regular and creamy. If you don’t have this on hand, I would opt for a creamy version, with regular Italian as a third option.
Add to the bowl the minced garlic and chopped fresh basil.
I tend to prefer using refrigerated minced garlic that I buy in a large container for my fresh salads or dips. Fresh garlic can be overly strong at times and rather than risk ruining a fresh salad, I will use minced garlic instead. Trust me, I’ve ruined a few dips with strong garlic. And I learned my lesson.
If you don’t have any fresh basil, you may substitute 2 teaspoons of dried basil. The basic conversion for fresh vs dried is a tablespoon of fresh herbs for one teaspoon of dried.
Gently toss everything together. Then add in your sliced Mozzarella cheese. Place in a serving bowl and cover and refrigerated at least 1 hour to marinate.
This salad will serve 6 people. Leftovers are good the next day, but it tends to become overly juicy after two days.
It goes especially well with grilled foods, such as Grilled Pork Loin Chops, Grilled Chicken with Chili Sauce, or perhaps Honey-Glazed Grilled Chicken Thighs.
See more Salad Ideas Here.
Mediterranean Garden Vegetable Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 medium Roma tomatoes chopped
- 1 medium red onions sliced
- 1 medium zucchini cut lengthwise in half, sliced
- 1 large green bell pepper chopped
- 1/2 cup Creamy Italian Dressing
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil chopped
- 2 tablespoons garlic minced
- 1 cup fresh Mozzarella Cheese
Instructions
- Begin by gathering all your ingredients so that you have everything on the counter or table.
Prepare the Ingredients
- Using a sharp Chef or Santoku knife and cutting board, chop the Roma tomatoes.
- Next, slice a medium red onion. Red onions give the dish a lovely color. But a sweet onion would also work.
- Cut one zucchini in half lengthwise, and then slice both halves.
- Chop one bell pepper into bite-sized pieces. You may use green, yellow, or red bell pepper. Whatever you have on hand will work!
- Chop the fresh basil.Slice the fresh Mozzarella into bite-size pieces.
Prepare the Salad
- Place all of the prepared veggies into a large bowl and pour the Creamy Italian Dressing over them.Add to the bowl the minced garlic and chopped fresh basil.If you don’t have any fresh basil, you may substitute 2 teaspoons of dried basil. The basic conversion for fresh vs dried is a tablespoon of fresh herbs for one teaspoon of dried.
- Gently toss everything together. Then add in your sliced Mozzarella cheese. Cover and refrigerated at least 1 hour to marinate. Serves 6.
Nutrition
