I’ve gotten a lot of requests lately for easy weeknight dinners. Until this year I probably would have scoffed at this request, not feeling qualified to answer such a question. But, now that I have a kiddo with soccer practices a couple nights a week, I understand the draw of having this sort of recipe in your back pocket. So…what is my go-to weeknight recipe? Chop Salad. Made even better with fresh Spring greens and herbs from your garden.
What is a chop salad?
What’s the difference between a regular salad and a “chop salad?” Well, nothing really. The only difference is that usually everything in a chop salad is cut into bite sized pieces. And not only bite sized, but uniformly bite sized. This means the lettuce, croutons, meat, veggies, etc. are all taking up the same amount of space in the salad.
I have found that this is a super easy way to make sure your dinner salad 1. is hearty enough (I feed a hard-working farmer, remember) and 2. BELOVED BY CHILDREN. Though like most kids, they’re not big on lettuce-heavy salads, my kids LOVE chop salad. I think they especially love that they get to build it themselves! But also that there’s just as much good stuff as there is greens. They always go back for seconds.
A perfect solution for picky eaters, dietary restrictions or just enthusiastic diy-ers, this dinner is sure to be a fave!
A traditional chop salad
A traditional chop salad usually has ingredients like olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppercini, cheese, onion and salami. It is often tossed with an Italian-style vinaigrette. While delicious and a great option in and of itself, there’s no reason to let tradition inhibit you! I like to mix it up and get creative with our chop salad ingredients all the time.
Chop salad bar
Once a week I make a chop salad of some sort. Usually it’s either a taco salad, chef-style salad or seasonal salad like the recipe in this post. But it can really depend on what you have in your fridge (or garden) and can totally be flexible depending on what you’re looking for. I love any kind of recipe that celebrates the seasons!
Here are my usual suspects when preparing a chop salad bar:
Chop salad bar ingredients
- Lettuce. I almost always use Romaine as a base for our chop salads, mostly because it holds up to any kind of dressing. It chops into nice pieces, has a great crunch and refreshing flavor. Oftentimes I use Romaine as the base and mix in a few different greens for color, variety and health benefits. Darker, more flavorful greens usually pack more of a punch nutritionally.
- Meat. Whether it’s a grilled chicken breast, steak strips, taco meat, crispy bacon lardons, sliced salami or chunks of ham, you’ve gotta have the protein! Meats are the key to making sure salad-for-dinner is going to be hearty enough for my fellas.
- Cheese. Cheese is another great way to protein-load your chop salad. I usually opt for raw cheddar, mozarella, parmesan or feta.
- Veggies. A perfect way to use up garden veggies is throwing them into a chop salad! I’ll often pull out and fill as many little bowls as I can with different chopped-up veggies. My kids LOVE it. Carrots, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, onions, corn, peas, radishes, beets, anything really! They’ll eat things in a salad they would usually turn down on their own.
- Beans/Eggs. For a secondary source of protein I’ll often throw in a legume of some sort or a hard-boiled egg. Cannellini beans, chickpeas and black beans are some of our favorites. I don’t prefer eggs in my salad, but my husband loves it, so I always make some for him!
- Nut/Seed. Is there anything better than an extra salty crunch in your salad!? A few of my favorite nuts and seeds to include are pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sliced almonds, candied pecans and crushed hazelnuts.
- Fruit (dried or fresh). My MIL makes a salad with fresh pears that I love SO much, and often will use fresh fruit in my chop salads. But when fresh isn’t an option, dried cherries, cranberries and blueberries are also favorites. They add such a zing to a delicious chopped mix.
- Dressing. I’ll always choose a vinaigrette over a creamy dressing myself, but my family likes variety, so I often experiment with different dressing recipes. Creamy ranch, Salsa Ranch, Avocado Lime, Green Goddess, Balsamic, Honey Mustard, Italian Dressing, etc. You can’t go wrong!
Tools you need for a chop salad bar
Salad bars are simple so no need to get fancy, but here are a few tools that might keep chop salad night fun and easy!
- Salad bowls. I never knew there was such a thing as the perfect vessel for consuming salad, BUT THERE IS. These salad bowls have changed my life. Gone are the days of chasing your taco salad’s black beans all over the plate. Losing your croutons off the side of the plate? A thing of the past. Grab one salad bowl for each family member and thank me later.
- Dressing bottle. To tell you the truth, I mix almost all my dressings in a mason jar with a plastic lid. They have the volume measures on the side and are super easy to clean. But, I can see how this bottle with dressing recipes on the side, could be very useful.
- Tons of tiny bowls. The other vital item for your salad bar? Tons and tons of tiny bowls. My kids think grabbing ingredients out of tiny bowls is the GREATEST. I have a set of these scalloped ramekins and they are perfect for chop salad ingredients.
What’s so great about Green Goddess dressing?
I first learned about Green Goddess dressing back in culinary school. Green Goddess is a creamy, herby dressing with a beautiful bright green color and fresh flavor. Apparently it was real big in the 70’s and for some reason is often seen as outdated, but I LOVE it.
It is a great way to incorporate garden herbs, is super easy to make clean and healthy, and adds so much flavor to any dish. I DO NOT like complicated dressing recipes and this one below is SUPER SIMPLE. But totally delicious! Give it a try.
Garden Chop Salad with Green Goddess Dressing
DifficultyEasy
Servings4
Prep time43 minutes
Cook time15 minutes
Total time60 minutes
Once a week we make some kind of salad for dinner, often on a night where we have had to run out in the afternoon. Errands, appointments, soccer practice, etc. Salads are quick to assemble, easy to clean up and provide a nice, healthy dose of greenery for our bodies once a week. Not to mention perfect in this season for using up garden produce. This recipe not only uses lettuces from the garden, but garden herbs, sourdough croutons and pasture-raised chicken. It’s a super quick, easy and delicious way to feed your family any night of the week!
Ingredients
Salad
- 2 heads romaine lettuce
- 4 handfuls mixed greens
- 3 slices bacon, cooked and chopped
- 1 ea chicken breast, cooked and sliced
- 5 slices sourdough bread, cubed and toasted
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shaved
- 1 cup cannelini beans, drained
- sea salt, to taste
- pepper, to taste
Dressing
- 1 ea avocado`
- 1 ea orange, juiced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp kefir
- 1 cup fresh herbs , I used cilantro, parsley, chives and thyme
- sea salt, to taste
- pepper, to taste
Instructions
Salad
- 1
Cook bacon in a cast-iron skillet until crispy, remove to a paper towel and set aside. Then, cover your chicken with salt and pepper, drizzle a little olive oil into the hot skillet and cook your chicken in the bacon grease. Cook until done and set aside to cool.
- 2
Turn oven on at 400 degrees. Slice sourdough bread into chunks, place on sheet pan with parchment paper and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and toast for about 10-15 minutes until crispy and golden brown. Set aside.
- 3
The night before I soaked 1 cup canellini beans in 3 cups water, with 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar. Then, a few hours before dinner I drained and rinsed the beans, added them to my instant pot with 2 cups water, a sprinkle of salt and pepper and 2 bay leaves. I cooked them on the “Bean” setting for 3o minutes. Then drained and rinsed them and set them aside. You could easily use canned beans, drained and rinsed as well.
- 4
Prepare lettuce by washing, spinning and cutting to desired size. I like mine bite sized so I chop it pretty good. Use a peeler to make large slices of parmesan cheese. Assemble ingredients, toss with dressing and serve!
Dressing
- 1
In a blender, combine all ingredients. Whiz until smooth and creamy. Spoon over salad and enjoy! Makes about 1 cup of dressing.
Equipment
Keywords:Garden Salad, Garden Greens, Spring Greens, Spring Salad, Sourdough Croutons, Green Goddess Dressing, Salad Dressing
Are you gonna try it!?
What are your go-to weeknight recipes? Are you a chop salad lover as well!? Leave a comment with your favorite weeknight recipes OR leave a request for something you’d like me to share.
Pin the image below so you can remember to make this quick, easy salad when you garden greens get going this Spring!
