Save the Pickle Juice

In summer I hardly ever want to eat anything but salads. Broccoli has been very good and inexpensive the last few weeks, so I've been making lots of broccoli salads. Here's a bean and broccoli salad. You could just use cider vinegar in the dressing, but I like to use the juice from sweet pickles. I buy two different kinds of sweet pickled peppers, one is hot and one is not. The sweet pickling juice of either makes a nice addition to all kinds of salad dressing. For potato salad I add pickle juice and a little dry mustard to mayonnaise. This also is good for cole slaw.

Broccoli Bean Salad

3 cups mixed cooked beans- blackeyed peas, kidney beans and dried limas are a good combination
2 cups fresh green beans, stemmed and cokked about 5 minutes until barely tender
2 cups chopped raw broccoli
large tomato, diced
1/2 chopped green olives

Marinade

1/3 cup sweet pickle juice
1/3 cup olive oil
3 cloves, finely minced garlic
salt to taste
1 teaspoon Italian seasonings blend

Mix beans and broccoli. Pour marinade over it and refrigerate at least an hour. Mix in tomato and olives just before serving


Broccoli Cheese Salad

2-3 pounds broccoli broken into florets. Peel and chop the tender parts of the stems
4 ounces Cheddar cheese (cubed)
1 medium red onion (chopped)
1/2 cup broken pecan halves
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
3 tablespoons sweet pickle juice
Combine the last three ingredients. Then mix with remainder of ingredients. Chill about 4 hours.