Chopped Salads are a great salad for a buffet. Just about any vegetable goes as long as they're all cut in about the same size--usually 1/2 inch pieces. The addition of romaine and iceberg lettuce will help maintain the crunch of the salad even after it sits for a while. We combine our Rosemary Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Champagne Pear Balsamic Vinegar for a light, flavorful vinaigrette.
Ingredients:
6 cups of vegetables chopped in 1/2 inch pieces--cucumbers, bell peppers, squash, zucchini, cherry tomatoes (halved), red onion
3 cups combination of chopped iceberg and romaine
3/4 cup Rosemary Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 cup Champagne Pear Balsamic Vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste
Directions
In a large salad bowl, combine all of the chopped vegetables and lettuce. Pour the vinegar in a medium bowl. Slowly drizzle the olive oil into the vinegar while whisking constantly to create an emulsified (albeit temporary) vinaigrette. Dress the salad to your liking--you will likely have vinaigrette left over; store it in the refrigerator. Season the salad with salt and pepper.
This salad is open to your own spin--try adding black beans, garbanzos, quartered artichoke hearts, shredded carrot, diced beets, tiny mozzarella pearls and on and on.