This clean, quick, and easy recipe tastes just like my childhood summers to me. My mother used to make it, and I always loved it—even after I learned how she made it, which seemed just plain weird. I think it’s a Pennsylvania Dutch recipe. It’s so easy it will take you only five minutes to prepare. All you need are some garden-fresh tomatoes, green peppers, vinegar, sugar, and salt. If you don’t have the garden-fresh tomatoes, then, frankly, don’t bother.
Because the salad is so fresh tasting and clean (no oil necessary), it’s the perfect accompaniment to my fried country chicken.
Sweet-and-Sour Tomato-Pepper Salad
Ingredients:
- 3 ripe tomatoes (still warm from the garden if you can do it)
- 1 or 2 green peppers
- 1 Tablespoon or less of sugar
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- Pinch of salt
- Fresh ground pepper, if you want it
Directions:
1. Slice the tomatoes in a serving bowl.
2. Layer with sliced green peppers.
3. Sprinkle with sugar.
4. Pour the apple cider vinegar on top.
5. Add a pinch of salt (and pepper if you choose). Serve!
For a complete summer-meal memory of the kind of food I ate when I was growing up, I make this salad, then serve it with Ardie’s Garlic Chicken and fresh corn on the cob with melted butter.
Happiness!
Thank you so much, Maria, for posting this PA Dutch vegetable recipe from your childhood.
This looks great! I’m going to try it tonight. My mother used to make a salad very similar to this from garden fresh pickling cucumbers & onions; place sliced cukes & sliced or diced onion in bowl, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of sugar, a teaspoon or so of salt, black pepper to taste. Add enough apple cider vinegar to come halfway up vegetables, then add just a splash (1/4 cup or so) cold water. Stir well, cover, then let sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Delish! Also, the leftovers, if any, keep well in the fridge, and become almost like a fresh-pack pickle by the next day.
thank yo so much for this recipe. my grandmother made this salad when i was a child in pa (many, many years ago – i’m 85) and i have been searching frantically to find it.