I was playin around on Pinterest yesterday looking at home decor and recipes.
I came across a recipe from Ree at The Pioneer Woman for New York Style Chopped Salad. It looked really good and with our early, warm spring weather, I'm ready for more leafy green salads and less soup.
We're still 2 months (and 2 days, but who's counting?) away from the grand opening of the Holland Farmers Market, so I'm still "doomed" to grocery store produce. But like when I was a kid and hated to drink my milk, I plugged my nose and suffered. Ok, I didn't really suffer because the salad tasted REALLY good. That milk on the other hand......ICK!
Read Ree's blog post (and see her gorgeous pictures) here. She also lists all kinds of ideas for your salad...I didn't use as many as she did. Neither did I display mine like she did, since I wasn't doing a major picture layout, I was making salad for only 2 of us. I didn't need to be so fancy.
I also have a smaller cutting board than she does, so I chopped the leafy greens first, then added each item to my mixing bowl as I chopped them.
In regards to the mozzarella cheese, I already had a fresh 8 ounce ball in the fridge. I put it in the freezer when I started the salads to make it easier to cut. I almost forgot about it and it started to freeze, but it was easy to cut! I cut about a 1/4" slice then cut it into cubes. Perfect!
Pre-mixing: Look at that amazing, healthy color! And it's not Photo Shopped in any way! (Click to enlarge)
Post-mixing with dressing and yummy mozzarella cheese!
I used:
Spring Mix
Hearts of Romain (from a bag)
Red Cabbage
Hard Boiled Egg (1 per person)
Baby Bella Mushrooms
Yellow Pepper
Red Pepper
Cherry Tomatoes
Red Onion
Carrots
Sliced Almonds
Avocado
Sliced Almonds
Avocado
And olives for my husband from the olive bar at the grocery store.
Really, any veggie or salad item you like would work!
Eggs and tomatoes need salt and pepper, so I added a little with a sprinkle of garlic powder.
For dressing, I mixed equal parts olive oil and balsamic vinegar. (1 tablespoon of each, per person)
The taste and crunch were so good! I can see why Ree said Monday salad, Tuesday salad, Wednesday salad...!
I also have a feeling this will OFTEN be on our summer menu, especially with those amazing fresh farmers market veggies! And why did I never think to chop it like this before? No dressing up my nose...fabulous!
Happy Spring!
What would you add to your salad item list?
Read my previous post: Noodles & Company (Again!)
