When you have lots of small amounts of vegetables in the fridge, the garden, or from a CSA box, a chopped salad is a great way to use them up and highlight their fresh flavors with something other than the standard lettuce-based salad.
The basic recipe for this salad can look and taste different depending on the season and vegetables available:
- In the spring use sliced snap peas and green onions dressed with a sesame-based vinaigrette for an Asian flavored salad.
- Corn, black beans, tomatoes, and peppers dressed with a spicy vinaigrette is perfect for a summer Tex-Mex meal.
- Tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, feta, and garbanzo beans turns the salad into a Greek feast in late summer.
- And winter may bring a salad of blanched cauliflower, carrots, onions, and kale dressed with a mustard vinaigrette.
And then there’s the classic use-what-you-have version which I’m showing here. From the garden came a few carrots, a yellow zucchini, and Walla Walla onions plus a store-bought red pepper. I wanted to use up last year’s frozen corn before our garden started producing this year’s corn, so that went in as well as some black beans from the freezer.
I often add beans and/or cheese to my chopped salads to up the protein content which makes it work even better for lunches the next day.
I thought the flavor of green olives would be nice, so I threw those in as well. Marinated mushrooms or artichoke hearts are a great additions as well as all types of olives.
Assembling the salad is as simple as chopping all the ingredients roughly the same size and adding them to a serving bowl. And the feta cheese I added? It’s one of my favorite additions to a chopped salad!
Most of the time I use a simple homemade vinaigrette that I’ve customized according to flavor (to the basic recipe, add sesame oil and soy sauce for Asian, cumin and cayenne for Tex-Mex, etc.). It really lets the flavor of the vegetables and other ingredients shine through.
Occasionally I’ll add some homemade mayonnaise to the vinaigrette to make a creamy-Italian type dressing and sometimes I’ll use Honey-Mustard Dressing. Fans of Ranch Dressing could use it to dress a salad of tomatoes, onions, beans, and a few cooked bacon pieces – the variations really are seemingly endless.
Sometimes I’ll serve this on a bed of lettuce, but I don’t add chopped lettuce like some recipes I’ve seen because the lettuce gets soggy and then isn’t good the next day.
For large groups, I’ll bring the salad in a big bowl and I’m always surprised at all the compliments I get on it – I think people like that it’s different from a typical salad.
PRINT
Quick & Easy Chopped Salad {Basic Recipe With Ideas For Variations}
- 3-4 c. chopped vegetables (use onions, carrots, peppers, kale, etc. raw and lightly blanch vegetables like cauliflower and green beans)
- Optional Additions:
- 1 c. beans (white, black, garbanzo, etc.)
- 1/2 c. olives, artichoke hearts or marinated mushrooms
- 1/4 -1/2 c. cheese (feta, queso fresco, Parmesan, blue, etc.)
- salt and pepper to taste
- Basic Herb Vinaigrette:
- 1/4 c. vinegar (rice, white wine, cider, balsamic, etc.)
- 1/2 c. olive oil
- 1-2 tsp. Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp. herb of choice
- 1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
- Add vegetables to a large serving bowl as you chop them into similar sizes (any vegetables that need to be softened can be blanched while chopping the other vegetables: boil water, add the cut vegetable for 30 seconds, remove to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking and drain before adding to the bowl of salad ingredients)
- Chop and add any other ingredients you’re using.
- Toss the vegetables with the vinaigrette.
The salad can be made a day ahead.
Variations:
- Asian: sliced snap peas, carrots, bean sprouts and green onions dressed with a sesame oil-based vinaigrette.
- Tex-Mex: corn, black beans, tomatoes, black olives and peppers dressed with a cayenne-cumin vinaigrette.
- Greek: tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, feta, kalamata olives and garbanzo beans with a red wine-basil vinaigrette.
- Winter: blanched cauliflower, carrots, onions, and kale dressed with a mustard vinaigrette.
- BLT Ranch: tomatoes, onions, red beans, and crumbled bacon mixed with Homemade Ranch Dressing and served on a bed of lettuce.
How would you make this Quick & Easy Chopped Salad?
-Jami
I believe a cottage can be anywhere or anything (condo, ranch, farmhouse) as long as you have a "cottage mentality" which puts people above things, celebrates imperfections, embraces simplicity, and finds joy in everyday life. Thanks for joining me!
I do this to for the same reason (use up random veggies). Kale and chard are frequent additions for me since it grows in my garden year round. The shape, of course, is a bit different since I cut the leaves in thin ribbons (similar to cabbage in cole slaw).
Great idea! I was looking for something to fix to go with the savory black-eyed pea cakes I’m making tonight with leftover black-eyed peas. This will be perfect, and use up some veggies that need to get gone.
Ooo, that sounds good, Diana – black-eyed pea cakes? Do you have the recipe posted?
I don’t have the recipe posted. It’s from the Foster’s Market Cookbook and turned out very yummy (as did your chopped salad!), although I had problems with the patties not holding together as well as I would like.
Basically for 4 or 5 patties, mix and mash up 1 cup cooked blackeyed peas with half a diced onion, some diced bell peppers and and half a diced jalapeño, half a cup of parmesan or goat cheese, a large egg, a tablespoon of flour, some garlic, some oregano, salt, pepper, parsley, and a half cup of bread crumbs. Then fold in 1 more cup of blackeyed peas, and form into 3 inch patties, cook in oiled skillet on medium high about 4-5 minutes per side (only turn once). We served them with salsa, but any chutney or relish would be good.
I have made this time and time again, with an exception…..used honey mustard
dressing…..it sure made extra special for those that are not too keen on veggies…
….ooooh looks SO good! thanks for sharing will have to try this weekend!!!
love all the ingredients! hugs kat =^.^=