Om du sköljer paprikan och gurkan nu, kan jag göra salladen medan du kokar ris.

Here Om means if.

So Om du sköljer paprikan och gurkan nu... means If you rinse the pepper and the cucumber now...

Swedish om is used for a condition:

• Om du kommer tidigt, äter vi tillsammans. = If you come early, we’ll eat together.

If you wanted when in the sense of a time point that is expected to happen, Swedish would often use när instead:

• När du kommer hem, kan du ringa mig? = When you get home, can you call me?

In this sentence, the speaker is proposing a plan, so if is the natural meaning.

This is because of the Swedish V2 rule: in a main clause, the finite verb usually comes in the second position.

The sentence begins with a subordinate clause:

• Om du sköljer paprikan och gurkan nu

After that comes the main clause:

• kan jag göra salladen

Since the if-clause comes first, it takes the first position as a whole. Then the finite verb in the main clause, kan, must come second. That is why Swedish says:

• Om du sköljer paprikan och gurkan nu, kan jag göra salladen...

and not:

• Om du sköljer paprikan och gurkan nu, jag kan göra salladen...

Compare:

• Jag kan göra salladen.
• Nu kan jag göra salladen.
• Om du hjälper till, kan jag göra salladen.

Same rule each time: whatever comes first, the verb still goes second.

The -n is the definite form. It corresponds roughly to the in English.

• en paprika = a pepper

• paprikan = the pepper

• en gurka = a cucumber

• gurkan = the cucumber

• en sallad = a salad
• salladen = the salad

In Swedish, instead of putting a separate word before the noun like English the, you usually attach the definiteness to the end of the noun.

So:

• sköljer paprikan och gurkan = rinse the pepper and the cucumber
• göra salladen = make the salad

This is very typical Swedish grammar.

Because ris here is being used as an uncountable/mass noun, like rice in English.

So:

• koka ris = cook rice

You do not need the definite form unless you mean a specific rice already known in the situation:

• Kan du koka riset? = Can you cook the rice?
  meaning some particular rice we have already talked about

But in a general cooking instruction, koka ris is very natural.

By contrast, salladen is definite because it refers to the specific salad being made for the meal.

Swedish very often uses the present tense for actions happening now, very soon, or as part of a plan.

So:

• Om du sköljer... kan jag göra... medan du kokar ris.

Even though in English you might think of this as a future arrangement, Swedish does not need a separate future form here.

This is very common:

• Jag ringer dig imorgon. = I’ll call you tomorrow.
• Vi åker snart. = We’re leaving soon.

So sköljer and kokar are completely natural here.

Medan means while.

So:

• medan du kokar ris = while you cook rice

It introduces another action happening at the same time.

The sentence structure is:

• I can make the salad while you cook rice.

A close alternative is samtidigt som, which also means while / at the same time as, but medan is shorter and very common in everyday speech.

Yes. Swedish, like English, normally needs an explicit subject in each clause.

So you have:

• Om du sköljer paprikan och gurkan nu
• kan jag göra salladen
• medan du kokar ris

Even though the same person is being talked about, Swedish still says du again in the medan clause.

This is just normal grammar. You cannot usually leave it out.

Literally, skölja usually means rinse.

So:

• skölja paprikan och gurkan = rinse the pepper and the cucumber

In everyday kitchen contexts, English speakers might also naturally say wash the pepper and cucumber, even if the Swedish verb is skölja. So the exact English translation can depend on context.

A rough distinction is:

• tvätta = wash more generally
• skölja = rinse, often with water

For vegetables, skölja is very common.

Nu is an adverb meaning now, and its placement is flexible, but this position sounds natural here:

• Om du sköljer paprikan och gurkan nu...

This puts focus on doing it now, after mentioning what should be rinsed.

You could also hear:

• Om du nu sköljer paprikan och gurkan...

but that can sound a bit different in tone, sometimes more emphatic or marked.

So the given word order is a normal, natural way to say:

• If you rinse the pepper and the cucumber now...

You usually say göra sallad(en) rather than laga sallad(en).

• göra salladen = make the salad

Laga is very common for cook / prepare food, especially hot food or meals in general:

• laga mat = cook food
• laga middag = cook dinner

But for a salad, göra sounds more natural:

• Jag gör en sallad. = I’m making a salad.

So in this sentence, kan jag göra salladen is the most natural choice.

It is basically a suggestion/proposal for dividing tasks.

The speaker is not directly giving an order like:

• Skölj paprikan och gurkan nu! = Rinse the pepper and the cucumber now!

Instead, the speaker is saying:

• If you do this, I can do that while you do the other thing.

So the tone is cooperative and practical:

• Om du sköljer paprikan och gurkan nu, kan jag göra salladen medan du kokar ris.

It sounds like planning together, not a harsh instruction.