Move over boring salad, there’s a new kid in town and this Greek chopped salad is full of everything healthy, fresh and green.
What is a Chopped Salad?
A chopped salad is a salad where all the ingredients, the lettuce, veggies, etc. are ‘chopped’ to be the same size, which is usually small enough to not require any utensil other than a fork to eat it.
The chopped salad is also dressed in the bowl before it gets plated allowing guests to just scoop the salad out of the bowl directly on their plates.
There are a variety of tools to use in order to get the salad the same size. I personally use my kitchen scissors and only cut the lettuce up in a very large bowl. But you would be amazed at how many products there are on the market just to make a chopped salad. Check out Amazon if you don’t believe me.
What is in a Chopped Greek Salad?
- Lettuce (I use a combination of Iceberg for it’s crunch and Romaine)
- Cucumbers
- Chickpeas
- Olives
- Tomatoes
- Artichoke Hearts
- Feta Cheese
- Banana peppers
- Red Onions … and anything else you want to add!
It’s all in the Dressing
Let’s face it, a salad isn’t anything special until the dressing hits it. A bowl of lettuce, some tomatoes, olives and croutons is pretty flavorless without the dressing. But add a dressing on top and suddenly you have an explosion of flavors in your mouth.
If there’s ever a dressing that has TONS of flavor, it’s Greek dressing. To be proper, it’s actually called a vinaigrette, which is made by mixing an oil with an acid. In this case, the acid is a red wine vinegar which gives Greek dressing … excuse me, vinaigrette, it’s tangy, zesty and bold flavor.
What to Serve with this Salad:
- A salad as light and flavorful as this can be served alongside any Mediterranean meal, like our Grilled Greek Chicken Kebobs, or Falafels.
- It also goes great as part of a soup and salad lunch, such as Butternut Squash Soup.
- But I have personally really enjoyed it alongside our Vegetarian Shepherdless Pie that uses lentils instead of meat. The lentils pair particularly well with the Greek genre.
Chopped Greek Salad with a Zesty Dressing
Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 2 Medium Heads Romaine Lettuce, chopped
- ½ Cup Chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 Pint Cherry Tomatoes, halved
- 1 Cup Kalamata Olives
- 1 English Cucumber, quartered
- ½ Red Onion, diced
- 4–5 Pepperoncini Peppers, diced (or banana peppers)
- 14 oz. Artichoke hearts
For the Dressing:
- 1 /3 Cup Red wine vinegar
- ½ Cup Olive Oil
- 1 Lemon, juiced
- 1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
- 2 Garlic Cloves, minced
- ½ teaspoon Oregano
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- Fresh Black Pepper
Instructions
- Prepare the dressing by combining all the ingredients into a mason jar and shake vigorously until well combined. Set aside.
- Place the lettuce in a large bowl and using a pair of kitchen scissors, begin chopping the lettuce until it is small and bite sized.
- Add the remaining salad ingredients ensuring they too are bite sized.
- Pour the dressing over the salad and combine using tongs or salad tongs.
- Serve immediately.
I didn’t see feta cheese written into the recipe. Also, how many servings does this make e.g., 8 1-cup servings?
Thank you
FYI- When I tried to print this recipe using the print button on the recipe, it showed in an asian language which I assume is Japanese so I went to print on my Mac for it to show in English. You might want to check as to why this happened.
I haven’t tried the recipe yet, but I think it will be excellent. I will omit the feta cheese and substitute something else as I cannot stand the smell of feta cheese.
well that’s odd – thank you for letting me know Jocelyn. I will look into this. Is anyone else having the same issue?