Remember that viral green goddess salad that everyone was eating with tortilla chips? This chopped salad with sun-dried tomato dressing is a fun play on that. It’s a completely different combination of flavors compared to an italian chopped salad, but same kind of idea. You’ll want to be eating this salad all summer long!
Why you should make this chopped salad:
This chopped salad is guaranteed to be completely different from any traditional chopped salad you’ve had before! Most chopped salads have things like romaine lettuce, red onion, cherry tomatoes, thick bacon, kalamata olives or green olives, blue cheese and banana peppers. In this case, I use things like red cabbage, cucumber, red bell pepper, salty feta cheese, walnuts, fresh herbs and a homemade dressing to impart a tangy flavor on this delicious salad.
Ingredients for the base:
- Red cabbage
- Bell pepper: ribs and seeds removed
- English cucumber
- Avocado
- Fresh mint
Ingredients for the homemade sundried tomato vinaigrette:
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Garlic cloves
- Shallot
- lemon
- Sun-dried tomatoes: he kind jarred in oil
- Walnuts
- Fresh parsley: you could use basil leaves as well.
For topping:
- Walnuts
- Pepitas
- Crumbled feta cheese
How to make this salad:
- Start by chopping all the vegetables and adding them to a very large bowl.
- In a small blender or food processor, make the dressing.
- Pour the dressing onto the salad base and top with the cheese, nuts and herbs listed on the recipe card.
- Toss everything together and enjoy on it’s own or with tortilla chips!
FAQ:
This salad keeps well for multiple days when stored in the fridge properly in a container with an air tight lid. The longer it sits, the more the cabbage softens which I actually enjoy. If you want, you can make this salad ahead of time and enjoy it throughout the week as a light lunch.
English cucumbers are great for salads because they don’t contain as many seeds as regular cucumbers. If all you have is a regular cucumber though, that will still work just fine in this recipe!
The smaller the blender, the better. There isn’t that much to blend so if you put everything in a large blender, chances are it will be hard to reach a smooth consistency. If you have a Nutribullet, or something similar, that’s perfect. An immersion blender or small food processor would both get the job done as well!
Chopped Salad With Sun-Dried Tomato Dressing
Equipment
- 1 small blender or food processor
Ingredients
- 1 small head red cabbage
- 1 red bell pepper ribs and seeds removed
- 1 english cucumber
- 1 avocado
- 1/2 cup fresh mint chopped and no stems
For the dressing:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic skins removed
- 1 shallot
- 1 lemon juiced
- 10-15 sun-dried tomatoes the kind in oil
- 1/4 cup walnuts
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley chopped and no stems
For topping:
- 1/4 cup walnuts chopped
- 1/4 cup pepitas
- 1/4 cup feta cheese crumbled
Instructions
- Remove the core from the red cabbage by cutting a 'v' shape around it and pulling it out.
- Chop up the cabbage, red pepper, and english cucumber. Add it all to a large bowl, then add in diced avocado.
- In a blender, combine all the dressing ingredients and blend until smooth. Adding more oil if needed.
- Toss the salad in the dressing and top it off with the mint, more walnuts, pepitas and crumbled feta cheese.
- Eat as is or serve with blue corn tortilla chips!
Nutrition
You should take advantage of fresh produce for this salad!
This time of year, when so many delicious fruits and vegetables are in season, I really urge you to throw together this salad using things that are fresh and readily available to you. You can use this delicious, bold dressing recipe on any kind of salad base you like or even grain bowls for that matter! In my opinion, the perfect salad is the one that uses ingredients you find to be yummy so be creative with your combinations!
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