The RJ Chopped Salad
My best friend Rachel (“RJ”, to me) is an excellent cook – in college we would spend hours in the kitchen of my little apartment, working our way through all of Ina’s classics and making roasted tomato soup and pasta dishes almost every Friday night. But one of my favorite recipes of RJ’s requires almost no cooking at all: her famous chopped salad. She wrote the recipe down for me and praised it for its versatility – it’s a foolproof combo that can easily be subbed out for whatever you’ve got in the crisper.
Serves 2 for a full lunch, or 4 for a side dish.
INGREDIENTS:
5 ounces chopped arugula (1 small box) If you can find fresh arugula in the summer, do that. You can also use your own favorite lettuce, just chop it up a bit.
2 ears of corn. I steam mine for 4 minutes and then cut it off the cob.
1 cucumber chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
Handful of any kind of small tomato, cut in half
If you have any other vegetable that you like in your salads, go for it!
1 can of beans, rinsed and drained - I use cannellini, but any will do.
Cheese of your choice, cut into tiny cubes - the texture is a game changer - I do Prairie Breeze Cheddar, but any sharp and salty cheese would be delicious.
A few spoonfuls of roasted chopped pistachios, if you prefer a different nut, go for it.
Dressing:
RJ makes a simple dressing that is three parts good olive oil, one part balsamic vinegar, and a healthy pinch of salt. For just two people, she uses half tablespoons to create it, so 1.5 tablespoons oil, .5 tablespoons vinegar. Regardless, RJ says, drizzle in less than you think you want because the dressing takes a second to soak in, and you can always add more.
[Ed note: another great dressing recipe I love (my mother in law’s!) is written out below.]
Sue’s Balsamic Vinaigrette:
1 cup good olive oil
.5 cup balsamic vinegar
1-2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon good dijon mustard (we like Grey Poupon.)
Salt + Pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS:
Blend all ingredients together in a blender until smooth. Makes enough to stay in the fridge for a week.
