Summer Chopped Veggie Salad

chopped veggie salad

Chopped salads are nothing knew, in fact if you did a search on the Internet you would see thousands of different variations. Crisp, colorful veggies tossed into a light vinaigrette, it just screams healthy and fresh!

chopped veggie salad ingredients

The vegetables you choose are up to you, in the past I’ve added things like peas, asparagus, carrots, radishes, raw zucchini, yellow squash and even jalapeno , I’ve added cheese, different herbs, but mostly I like to keep it pretty simple and above all colorful!

This time I added green and yellow wax beans, something I saw Martha do on one of her shows, it’s a great addition for the color and texture it gives, and I always use planks of fresh corn for the taste and visual.

Don’t get me wrong, this is not the quickest salad to make, you have to do some chopping, after all it is a chopped salad, but I find it therapeutic. Play some music, watch a TV show or just drift into your own thoughts, it will go by fast. You can chop all your veggies the day before then mix everything together the day of.

 

chopped veggie salad ingredients

This salad couldn’t be more perfect as a side to all your summertime cookouts or just make it and eat it for lunch for a few days plus there’s no mayo required, so that’s a good thing with the summer heat.

chopped veggie salad

Chop and then dress adding more or less, it’s up to you, be creative!

5.0 from 5 reviews
Summer Chopped Veggie Salad
 
A fresh summertime salad, all flavors condensed into one bite. No mayo required.
Author:
Ingredients
  • ½ pound of green beans cut into ¼ inch pieces
  • ½ pound of yellow wax beans cut into ¼ inch pieces
  • ½ can of garbanzo bean, drained and rinsed
  • 1 cucumber, seeded and cut into ¼ inch pieces
  • 2 ears of fresh corn
  • 1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into ¼ inch pieces
  • 1 red pepper, seeded and chopped into ¼ inch pieces
  • 1 small red onion cut into ¼ inch dice
  • 4 or 5 tomatoes, seeded and diced into ¼ inch pieces
  • a handful each of fresh basil and fresh parsley, chopped
  • FOR VINAIGRETTE YOU WILL NEED:
  • olive oil
  • white balsamic vinegar or champagne vinegar
  • ½ minced garlic
  • dijon mustard
  • salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. You need to blanch the beans for 2 minutes in boiling water, remove with slotted spoon and then place into an ice bath, then drain well, even wiping them down with paper towel until moisture is removed.
  2. Place corn in boiling water after beans for 5 minutes and also place into ice bath to cool down, when cool, cut corn into planks.
  3. Place everything into a large bowl, veggies, beans, herbs and toss to mix.
  4. In a small bowl whisk together, 2 ounces of olive oil, 2 ounces of vinegar, a dollop of dijon mustard, ½ minced garlic and salt and pepper to taste.
  5. This is just a general guideline, you can add more or less as needed to taste.
  6. Pour vinaigrette all over and toss!

 

 

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Farro and Arugula Salad

farro and arugula saladIf the holidays left you craving something green and healthy right now, no worries, I have the perfect salad for you! I’m currently in love with this salad, thanks to my friend Stacey who posted it on her blog. I could literally eat this for lunch all week, and I have!

farro salad ingredients

Simple but superior ingredients is what makes this salad so scrumptious. Cooked farro, that wonderful chewy and nutty tasting Italian grain is tossed with baby arugula, cherry tomatoes, pitted nicoise olives, buttery and over the top extremely addictive Marcona almonds and really good feta.

Speaking of feta, I’ve been obsessed with the brand that you see above for some time now, I buy it at my Costco, it’s about $11.00 for a 2 pack. It’s outstanding and a little goes a long way because the flavor is so intensified. No comparison in taste to the feta crumbles you can buy in the stores, none what so ever! If you can’t find this particular brand just get the real deal.

All those ingredients and flavors combined with premium extra virgin olive oil and fresh lemon juice for your dressing and you have a salad that you will crave and dream about eating, it’s that good!

farro and arugula saladIf I were you I would cook up a whole bag of farro, stick it into a container in the fridge so it’s handy when you want to toss this salad together, especially if you plan on eating it for lunch during the week.

farro and arugula salad I chose nicoise olives because I adore them along with a lemon and olive oil dressing which went heavenly together, but you can certainly use pitted kalamata olives and a vinegar based dressing like my friend Stacey did. You can’t go wrong, it’s all good!

Farro and Arugula Salad
 
Ingredients
  • 1½ cups of cooked farro
  • 1 lb. baby arugula
  • handful of marcona almonds
  • ½ cup, sliced cherry tomatoes
  • ⅓ cup nicoise olives
  • ½ cup good feta crumbled
  • FOR THE DRESSING
  • 1 lemon
  • olive oil
Instructions
  1. Make the dressing by squeezing the juice of one lemon into a small bowl then whisking in olive oil and tasting until you get the right balance.
  2. Place all the ingredients into a bowl and then toss with the dressing adding salt and pepper to taste.
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