The Best Chopped Side Salad
The BEST chopped side salad recipe! It’s not your ordinary boring old side salad with just tomatoes and cucumbers. This simple chopped side salad is made with chopped greens tossed with crunchy radish and cucumber, sharp cheddar, creamy avocado, and nutty toasted walnut with a mustard vinaigrette. Bring this chopped side salad to your next cookout!
Salads are so much better when all the ingredients are chopped into little bite sized pieces? Each bite has all the good stuff in it! This recipe for the best chopped side salad is one that you’ll come back to again and again because it pairs well with any main dish from sandwiches to grilled meats to vegetarian pasta dishes!
This is my go to chopped salad adapted from a recipe from Jamie Oliver. I make this as a simple main course along with crusty, whole grain bread or topped with a homemade veggie patty, or as a simple side dish. Even though it’s a side salad it’s still pretty filling since it’s got a nice dose of satisfying fats from the avocado, toasted walnuts, cheese and dressing. You could also bulk it up with more protein from roasted chicken or chickpeas. I also love this salad with dried cranberries or cherries to give it a little fall flavor.
Finish off this salad by tossing it in this easy homemade vinaigrette. My trick for dressing a salad properly is to whisk up the dressing in the bottom of the serving bowl, add the ingredients, then toss it all together with your hands. It makes sure all the greens are lightly dressed and coated, versus pouring dressing on at the end, which often leads to a clumpy and soggy salad with unevenly coated greens.
Jamie Oliver's recipes are some of my favorite to cook. You should definitely check out his website, which is packed with lots of simple, whole foods recipes that allow quality ingredients to shine. And I just love the casual way he writes his recipes - I always catch myself reading them using a British accent!
The Best Chopped Side Salad
Serves 4ish
Adapted from Jamie Oliver
Ingredients:
1 large head of butterhead or Boston lettuce, chopped (any other lettuce or green would work fine)
1/2 a cucumber, thinly sliced
6 radishes, thinly sliced
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
handful of basil leaves, julienned
1 large scallion, thinly sliced
1 avocado, diced
handful of microgreens
1/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
4 ounces of sharp cheddar cheese, diced
Dressing:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons grainy mustard
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Whisk together dressing ingredients in a large serving bowl. Season with salt and black pepper.
Add remaining salad ingredients and toss together with your hands until greens are lightly coated. Serve immediately.
Other salad recipes you might like:
Crunchy Salad Mix + Three Easy Lunch Salads
Heirloom Chopped Caprese Salad
Avocado Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing
