Revive Canned Veggies With A Tangy Dressing Marinade

Canning vegetables is an age-old method to preserve them for long periods without drastically diminishing their nutritional value. Today you can find a wide array of canned vegetables at any grocery or convenience store. There's nothing easier than draining and pouring a can of green beans into a serving bowl for a quick, effortless side dish. That said, after draining salty canning liquids, you're left with bland vegetables.

The best way to revive canned veggies is with a tangy dressing marinade. Whether you use an elaborate vinaigrette or a simple blend of citrus and oil, dressing marinades are the easiest way to infuse canned vegetables with flavor. Marination is a hands-off method that's especially popular for flavoring proteins, but it works just as well with vegetables. All it takes is pouring a marinade over canned vegetables and letting the mixture sit in the fridge for a minimum of four hours, or overnight for the best results.

A tangy dressing will elevate any canned vegetable, legume, or starch you have in your pantry. You can make a dressing marinade from scratch with a few simple ingredients, or use your favorite store-bought bottled vinaigrette to save time. Even if you don't have the time for a marinade, simply tossing canned vegetables with vinaigrette transforms them into a tasty salad on the fly.

All it takes to create a vinaigrette dressing is oil and acid, but there are countless recipes to fit any cuisine's flavor profile. You can therefore match canned vegetables to the culinary theme of any meal you have in mind. If you're looking for an Asian vegetable side dish, pour a sesame-ginger lime vinaigrette over canned peas, carrots, baby corn, and water chestnuts. You can whisk lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, balsamic vinegar, and fresh cracked pepper for an Italian vinaigrette to dress up canned white beans, mushrooms, sliced black olives, roasted red peppers, and artichoke hearts. If you don't have vinegar and spices on hand, you could combine a mix of canned vegetables and jarred pickled vegetables, using the vinegary pickle brine and oil as an easy, tangy vinaigrette.

Canned vegetable salad marinades are a classic pot-luck dish to bring to a barbecue or block party because they're a one-bowl dish that's cheap to make in large quantities. A popular recipe is Texas or Cowboy caviar, consisting of black-eyed peas, black beans, yellow corn kernels, chopped red bell pepper, red onion, and cilantro tossed in olive oil, lime juice, garlic, honey, and Southwestern spices.

To elevate the texture of canned veggie side dishes, you can add a wonderful crunch with mix-ins like raw chopped vegetables, nuts, seeds, tortilla strips, crispy noodles, or croutons.