
Kitchen Sink Chopped Salad
This Kitchen Sink Chopped Salad is packed full of refreshing ingredients! It’s a versatile salad in which you can substitute whatever tickles your fancy.
Gorgeous, colorful, and adaptable, add rows of your favorite salad add-ins, shake up the cheese, and top with your favorite salad dressing when you make your version of this tasty Chopped Salad Recipe!
Kitchen Sink Chopped Salad
I discovered this wonderful composed salad in the midst of a heatwave; there were many nights where a hot dinner was just plain unappealing. An entrée salad was the perfect option for those oppressively hot evenings, especially one chock-full of tasty veggies.
I turned to The Mom 100 Cookbook for inspiration and saw this tasty and healthy composed salad. I was sold.
Tips for Making a Composed Salad
As the name implies, this kitchen sink salad can be made with whatever you have floating around in your refrigerator.
- A layer of sliced Romaine lettuce creates a bed for rows of marvelous toppings. But iceberg, arugula, or any salad greens would be fabulous.
- From there, add black olives, artichokes, shredded cheese, and more. I was tempted to add diced avocados or fresh sweet corn off the cob but ran out of room. You can certainly tweak this to include your favorite veggies.
- PRO-Tip: If you aren’t a huge fan of onions, consider soaking them in ice water or vinegar for about 15 minutes to take the bite off.
- Add beans, grilled salmon, or even the meat off a rotisserie chicken for more protein. There are so many options.
- A simple vinaigrette with shallots and Dijon mustard drizzled over the salad was the finishing touch. But another homemade dressing or even your favorite store-bought salad dressing would work, too.
- Line up your ingredients in rows across a platter for a beautiful composed salad. Alternatively, fill your salad bowl with greens and add pie shape wedges of the ingredients around the bowl. Just wait to add your dressing before serving.
- It’s the perfect hot weather meal with added protein, and I love making it for a pitch in meals and even company!
More Delicious Salad Recipes You’ll Love:
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- Strawberry, Brie and Bacon Salad
- Gazpacho Salad
- Mexican Chopped Salad
- Cherry Orange Salad
- Best Balsamic Vinaigrette
- Blue Cheese Salad Dressing
- Spinach, Strawberry, Pomegranate and Feta Salad
- Peach Quinoa Caprese Salad
- Marinated Vegetable Salad
- More of the Best Salad Recipes
This recipe was first shared in 2012. Photos and text were updated in 2020
The Recipe: Kitchen Sink Chopped Salad
A versatile Chopped Salad that can be tweaked to whatever is in your fridge.
Ingredients
For Salad:
- 2 hearts of romaine lettuce, sliced crosswise into 1/2-inch ribbons
- 1 red bell pepper (or orange, yellow, or green), stemmed, seeded, and diced
- 2 large carrots, peeled and sliced or shredded
- 1 (14-ounce) can artichoke bottoms, cut into 1/4-inch dice, or 1 (6-ounce) jar marinated
- Artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped
- 1 cup thinly sliced seedless or English cucumber
- 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, cut into halves
- 1/2 cup chopped or slivered red onion
- 1/4 cup sliced pitted black olives (any kind)
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup shredded or grated cheese, such as Provolone, Cheddar, Swiss or Mozzarella
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup Classic Vinaigrette, to taste, or a salad dressing of your choice
Classic Vinaigrette:
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup vinegar of your choice (I prefer aged balsamic)
- 1 tablespoon minced shallot
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Instructions
- Place a layer of romaine on serving platter. Arrange strips of ingredients over the lettuce. Alternatively, combine lettuce, bell pepper, carrots, artichokes, cucumber, tomatoes, onion, and olives in a large serving bowl. Toss in the cheese, if using. Dress with Classic Vinaigrette.
- To make the dressing, put all ingredients in a container with a lid. With the lid on tightly, shake vigorously to combine. Taste for seasoning and add more mustard and/or salt if needed.
Notes
Recipe courtesy of the Mom 100 Cookbook
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