I saw an episode of Trisha's Southern Kitchen a while back, and she made this recipe.  It reminded me of a sort of older style (old church rather than old school- ha!) potluck dish, but I liked that she used fresh and frozen vegetables rather than canned ones to make it.  I wanted something vegetable based to take to the church dinner, but wanted it to still retain some freshness rather than a cooked taste and texture.  

While I think I would still need to tweak this a bit to really suit my tastes, this is overall not a bad dish.  It makes a ton (like 4 quarts), and is good for potlucks because of its volume and it's just a bit different, but not out of the realm of familiar.  It's easy to make, and you have to make it ahead of time, so it's a good time saver.  When it's first made, it is the prettiest- all the green.  Unfortunately the green of the green beans and peas fades just a bit, but it's still a few nice colors.

I changed the amount of sugar, so be sure to click the link to see her original recipe.

Marinated Vegetable Salad

adapted from Trisha Yearwood

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

16 ounces frozen cut green beans, defrosted and drained, or fresh green beans

16 ounces frozen green peas, defrosted and drained, or fresh shelled green peas

1 1/2 cups thinly chopped celery (about 4 stalks)

One 2-ounce jar chopped pimientos

2 small sweet onions, thinly sliced

1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped

Bring the sugar and vinegar to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the oil and salt and set aside to cool.

Add to a bowl the green beans, peas, celery, pimientos, onions and bell peppers. Pour the vinegar mixture over the vegetables, cover with plastic wrap and marinate in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

Serve with a slotted spoon to drain the excess oil.

Notes