Chopped salad is always a huge hit:
add your veggies. Hearts of romaine or iceburg lettuce, carrots, celery, and other veggies chopped up about 1 cm square. (the lettuce can be slightly bigger, but smaller than 1 inch). other veggie ideas include onions, sweet peppers, cabbage, cucumber (seeded), olives, cherry tomatoes, radichio, avocado.
add a sweet ingrediant. I've come to beleive salads of any kind are not complete without a sweet ingrediant. Basically, a dried fruit. I love chopped prunes or dates, raisons, fresh berries, fresh citrus, apples, or pears. I'm sure you can think of others that would be good. again, the about a cm rule, if it isn't that small, cut it up.
add your protein. cheese, salami, beans (grean, garbanzo, sprouted mung, all sorts would work), Parmesan chunks, peices of bacon (real bacon of course), chicken, turkey, whatever strikes your fancy. I'm a fan of soft cheeses in regular salad, and medium cheeses like chedder or jack in chopped salad. mozzarella is also common, though I haven't tried it. These should be again, about 1 cm cubed.
Mix your chopped ingrediants together in a bowl. You may wish to reserve delicate ingrediants such as fresh berries, or ones which will change color, or texture such as apple or avocado, and add those as you serve. be sure to bring a knife to cut them.
Make salad dressing in a clean jam jar or small mason jar. (1/2 pint small mouth is good.) Either make your favorite, or try the one that follows. mix about 4 or 5 parts olive oil (or 3 or 4 olive and 1 part flaxseed oil), 1-2 part vinegar, .5 part mustard, salt and pepper.
I like half and half red wine vinegar and balsamic, other options are apple cider vinegar, white wine vinegar, and others. If your balsamic is not aged, you need less red wine. The red wine adds sharpness to counter the sweet balsamic. If you are using a cheaper, less aged balsamic you may also want to add honey, maple syrup, palm sugar, sucanat, or other sweetner, just a little bit. not to make it sweet, just to bring out the best flavor.
other possible additions to salad dressing include miso paste, tamari, lemon juice as your acid, cultured dairy products (yogurt, kefir, buttermilk-all particularly good with lemon dressings), garlic, herbs, and anything else you can think of.
bring tongs or other utensils to toss salad. Bring salad bowl, delicate ingredients, and dressing. When it is time to eat, add delicate ingredients, add dressing, toss salad, and be sure to get some before you take the completely empty bowl home.
I love this, it is SO easy, other than the time consuming chopping of ingrediants. It keeps pretty well undressed so can be made a day in advance, maybe more.
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