Some people drink their vegetables. You can eat your Bloody Mary.
With Labor Day coming up quickly, I have been trying to come up with a menu for the day by the water with the grill and the picnic basket.Because I am the only vegetarian in a family of omnivores, I try to find sneaky ways to get them to eat veggies and healthy food. They all like a black bean burger in addition to their beef so I’m making slow progress.
Looking for an alternative to the same old iceberg lettuce and sliced tomato salad, I began to experiment with some ingredients and flavors that were already on the shelves for the day’s cooking.
A friend told me her favorite barbecue recipe is a Bloody Mary. She mixes the tomato juice, a touch of vodka and some other sharp and spicy flavors into a glass filled with ice, stirs it with a stalk of celery and sits back to watch her husband grill.
That’s it, I thought! Why not make a big, crunchy salad with the relaxing appeal of a cool summer drink?
I’d had a Margarita Salad at a kitschy café in the Keys once…lots of salt and lime tossed over some spring greens. Why not a Bloody Mary? It already had veggies in the ingredients…why not put that drink on a plate, turn it inside-out and highlight its healthier side?
So here it is: A healthy Bloody Mary to accompany any Labor Day meal.
Bloody Mary Salad
2 tablespoons salad oil
½ ounce vodka (optional – it adds only a little to the flavor so if you don’t drink, don’t use it)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1½ teaspoons hot sauce (the more the better, I say)
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (more or less, depending on your taste)
2 tablespoons horseradish sauce (more or less, depending on your taste)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 pints grape tomatoes, halved
6 stalks celery, halved and then cut into quarter-inch-thick diagonal slices
· In a large bowl, whisk the oil, vodka (optional), lemon juice, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, ½ teaspoon of salt, and ½ teaspoon of pepper until blended. Add more of the spices and salt and pepper as you like.
· Add the tomatoes and celery; toss to combine.
· Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
· Toss it again right before serving it.
½ ounce vodka (optional – it adds only a little to the flavor so if you don’t drink, don’t use it)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1½ teaspoons hot sauce (the more the better, I say)
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (more or less, depending on your taste)
2 tablespoons horseradish sauce (more or less, depending on your taste)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 pints grape tomatoes, halved
6 stalks celery, halved and then cut into quarter-inch-thick diagonal slices
· In a large bowl, whisk the oil, vodka (optional), lemon juice, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, ½ teaspoon of salt, and ½ teaspoon of pepper until blended. Add more of the spices and salt and pepper as you like.
· Add the tomatoes and celery; toss to combine.
· Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
· Toss it again right before serving it.
