A bright, restaurant quality Chopped Salad With Avocado and Endive you can whip up at home in 10 minutes. Super crunchy, creamy and healthy!
Chopped Salad With Avocado and Endive
We typically take Saturday off. While I keep on-task for six days a week, ignoring SEO, unplugging from social media and abstaining from cooking anything for a day is part of what keeps Pickled Plum a healthy machine. So it was a rare Tuesday afternoon that I decided we were due for a lazy mid-week lunch in the city. I didn’t have to twist Ben’s arm. We dropped everything and went to our favorite pizzeria in the Village for a little weekday R&R and, of course, great food! After a sunchoke and escarole salad (my fave!), a mushroom and taleggio pizza and a briny vongole pizza, we were recharged – and stuffed! And, it got me thinking about what makes a salad tick. This chopped salad with avocado and endive recipe is a perfect starter for family pizza-night, or a lunchtime entree at the office.
Sometimes a simple restaurant starter salad is the toughest thing to recreate at home. Even though the ingredients appear simple, there just seems to be a little magic at play when it comes to the perfect balance of salt, acid and oil. Well, let me tell you friends… it is crazy simple! The magic in question is just the proportion of simple ingredients used in the vinaigrette and the amount applied to salad. This Chopped salad with avocado and endive has a crunchy brightness brought by the endive and Boston lettuce – and a creamy element facilitated by using ripe avocado and feta cheese. Pretty simple so far. However, the secret weapon in this chopped salad recipe has got to be the (also incredibly simple) vinaigrette!
It seems like preparing a vinaigrette that makes your chopped salad taste like a restaurant quality starter should be tough, right? Nope! In this case, you only need five ingredients. And two of those ingredients just happen to be salt and pepper! Dijon mustard and red wine vinegar bring a bit of a bite that is smoothed by using a good extra virgin olive oil. Use just enough dressing to coat everything lightly. Too much, and your chopped salad will wilt pretty fast indeed. Here is a foolproof trick I picked up on how to dress a salad properly every time.
I totally enjoyed last Tuesday, when we played hooky from our normal daily tasks and ate like champs instead. There’s nothing like a summer day off, eating delicious food with your BFF. It was such a recharging experience that it got me thinking about what made our starter salad at the restaurant so great in the first place. Wait… am I always working? Maybe just a bit. But it got me pondering something in the food world that seems tough, but is deceptively simple. Over a lazy lunch, I demystified the restaurant quality chopped salad. Now if only perfectly boiling an egg was as simple. (Btw… it is!)
Other simple, delicious salad recipes:
- Cold Asian Noodle Salad
- Watermelon, Strawberry and Tomatillo Salad
- Thai Egg and Brussels Sprout Salad
- Mango and Watermelon Chicken Salad
- Pickled Cucumber and Onion Salad
Did you like this Chopped Salad With Avocado and Endive Recipe? Are there changes you made that you would like to share? Share your tips and recommendations in the comments section below!
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Chopped Salad With Avocado and Endive
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 people 1x
- Category: Salads
- Cuisine: American
Description
A bright, restaurant quality Chopped Salad With Avocado and Endive you can whip up at home in 10 minutes. Super crunchy, creamy and healthy!
Ingredients
- 2 avocados (peeled, pitted and chopped bite size)
- 2 endives (sliced half lengthwise and chopped bite size)
- 1 head Boston lettuce (chopped bite size)
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1 shallot (finely chopped)
Dressing
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Put all the ingredients for the dressing in a tupperware container with a lid and close. Shake vigorously until the mixture turns cloudy and smooth (emulsified). Set aside.
- Put all the ingredients for the salad in a bowl and pour dressing over. Toss well until the salad is coated evenly. Serve immediately.
Notes
This Chopped Salad with Avocado and Endive Recipe is:
Low in cholesterol
Low in sugar
High in vitamin B6
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 262
- Sugar: 3.2 g
- Sodium: 528.2 mg
- Fat: 22.2 g
- Saturated Fat: 5.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 12.6 g
- Fiber: 9.2 g
- Protein: 6.8 g
- Cholesterol: 16.7 mg
