It’s National Soy Foods Month, a time when we like to highlight the many ways soy products are used in our everyday meals.
Did you know that Mulberry, Arkansas is home to the first edamame processing plant in the United States?
Edamame are a different variety than the field variety of soybeans, Arkansas’ second-highest-valued agricultural commodity behind poultry and its most valuable crop at nearly $1.5 billion in 2011, according to a report from the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Research and Extension. Typically 3.5 million acres of soybeans are planted each year in our state.
We love this versatile salad. It’s delicious served chilled or at room temperature making it a perfect dish for your spring and summer potlucks and picnics. It improves with age so making it ahead is preferable.
It’s easy to make it to suit your own personal tastes, but we suggest you start with my basic recipe and go from there. Plus, it keeps for several days.
Ingredients
- 3 baby cucumbers, halved and sliced into 1/4-inch thick slices
- 1 small red onion, quartered and thinly sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 package shelled edamame, cooked in microwave
- 2 cups frozen whole kernel corn
- 1/4 cup unseasoned rice wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- Salt
- Freshly cracked black pepper
- 1/2 cup minced flat-leaf parsley
You can find the complete recipe, here.