Marinated Italian Vegetables

At all of our family reunions in the past my Mom would make this vegetable marinade. Everyone seemed to enjoy it so much as it disappeared fairly quickly. It's quite the Italian thing, at least around these parts. I decided that we should make it for our upcoming shindig. We changed the flavor a bit. I really like this Greek salad dressing I made a couple weeks ago so we used it. It didnt quite fill the containers even though we made 8 cups of it. So we filled the containers about 1/2 full and added a mixture of oil, red wine vinegar and water with oregano and garlic powder, onion powder and salt. I think it came out pretty good. I am so looking forward to tasting it in a couple days when the flavors marry a little.


MARINATED ITALIAN VEGGIES

*large quantity marinade:

2 cups lemon juice, fresh squeezed
2 cups red wine vinegar
4 cups canola oil * don't use Olive oil as it will gel in the fridge.
6 tablespoons oregano
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
if you want a smaller version click here for the recipe.

veggies:

2 pounds carrots
8 - 10 oz packages mushrooms
2 regular sized heads of cauliflower
1 onion
6 cloves of garlic, sliced lengthwise
1 entire bunch of celery
3 cups pepperoncini
3 red bell pepper
2 green bell pepper
2 yellow bell pepper

Boil the cauliflower until it is crisp tender. Set aside.
Boil the carrots until they are crisp tender. Set aside.
Cut peppers into 1 inch square chunks.
Cut celery into 1 inch chunks.
Cut onion into 1 inch chunks or slivers.
Drain pepperoncini and place in a very large bowl.

Combine all in a very large bowl or pot. Mix in marinade. Scoop into large jars and refrigerate. Flavors intensify with the passage of time. You want to wait at least four days and up to two weeks.

7/15/2010  Update:

* For the amount of vegetables in this recipe- you will want to double the marinade.

* Add a tablespoon of sugar and a cup of water to the marinade to reduce the acidity.