it's the classic summer salad favorite..lots of vinegar, sugar, salad oil and dill and the above mentioned veggies and I guess technically a fruit. But my question is can you can it? I don't have a pressure cooker so I use the hot water bath method. Also, I'd love to here your versions of this salad...I know some use tarragon and basil instead of dill(being Swedish we put dill on everything!). Thanks again for your input.

-- claudia in NY (cooleyville@aol.com), August 14, 2001

Answers

Claudia, no certain knowledge, but I don't think it would turn out anything like a salad. If I were going to do it, I'd can it without the oil and use it as a sauce over meat. My mother had a receipt for something called "chili sauce" which was not hot like the name implys, but had tomatos, onions, sugar, vinegar and cinnamon. It's great stuff for meats in the winter time. You're sure to get something tasty out of it, anyway, no matter how you do it. Oh, and we always hot water bath canned the chili sauce.

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@nospammail.com), August 14, 2001.

Here's my version, it was a hit at the co-op that sells my veggies! 1-2 burpless cukes 1 sweet italian frying pepper 1 clv. garlic 1/4 cp onion 1 tomato or peach 2 tbs lime juice 1 tbs. olive oil 1/2 tsp. salt mince/chop/dice to your fave. size, toss & eat. It is a pico -day-guy-o [spelling??] not a salsa so it gets eaten more often like a salad, but it is tasty w/ chips too.

-- bj pepper in C. MS. (pepper.pepper@excite.com), August 14, 2001.

I am the salad queen! Seriously, I do have a reputation for my simple salads tasting exotic. Why? I often use for veggie salads (not lettuce salads) UNREFINED safflower oil. I will tell folks how to make my raw beet salad and they say it doesn't taste like mine when they make it. I ask if they used the UNREFINED and they say no. Well, that is the key.

But, my version of this salad is these veggies with dill, with apple cider vinegar, unref saffl oil and dill, salt pepper and fresh crushed garlic. only apple cider...

Simpler, I love tomato and basil salad. That is all, except for the salt and pepper. Let it stand a bit before serving (maybe 15 minutes).

-- marcee king (thathope@mwt.net), August 15, 2001.

I've heard of bad things happening (food poisoning) with things preserved in oil. I'd leave that out, but provide the acid - vinegar. It wouldn't be crisp like salad, but more like a pickle, but should be good. Try a jar, then eat it next day. If OK, then you've got a recipe for summer pickles for the next year. You ought to be able to figure out something - after all, gherkins are cucumber, and that's most of what you're talking about.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), August 18, 2001.