One of my favorite meals to eat on a hot summer’s day is a large chopped salad. I mean, who wants to turn on a hot oven when it’s 95 degrees outside?!
Another reason I love chopped salads is that they are easily customizable, so you can create a different salad each time. And the variety of salad toppings is endless.
So, here are a few of my secrets to creating a delicious, chopped salad:
First, start with a bed of greens. This can be any variety of greens – spinach, romaine, butter lettuce, kale, etc. Getting a variety of greens into your diet is one of the best things you can do for your health. Greens are full of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, so they are some of the most nutritious foods on the planet!
Once you choose your greens, you’re ready for my secret.
Finely chop your greens.
Yes, the secret to a good chopped salad is chopping the greens!
I’m not a fan of trying to fit large pieces of lettuce in my mouth. I end up getting salad dressing all over my face 😳 You can easily remedy this by chopping your greens into smaller, bite-sized pieces. When the lettuce and toppings are chopped into roughly the same size, it just makes for a better eating experience.
Okay, now that you have your greens chopped and into a large bowl, you can create smaller bowls with your favorite salad toppings. This is where you can have a lot of fun, because you can add whatever your heart desires!
Here are just a few of our favorites:
- Chopped Chicken
- Ground Turkey with Taco Seasoning
- Chickpeas
- Cucumbers
- Tomatoes
- Walnuts
- Pecans
- Sunflower Seeds
- Black Beans
- Pinto Beans
- Corn
- Strawberries
- Blueberries
- Goat Cheese
- Dressings (Be Careful about the amount, because these can quickly add lots of calories!)
See what I mean? I could go on!
By creating bowls with all the different toppings, family and/or guests can choose what they like and create their own delicious salad. Once you’re finished, you can store all the different toppings in Mason Jars in the refrigerator, and they’re ready to go for more salad throughout the week!
What are your favorite salad toppings?
