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The Perfect Chop Salad.

March 11, 2014 - 7 Comments

Once up a time, there was a pregnant girl who ate far too many processed saltine crackers her first trimester. Couple that with all the popsicles consumed during the two swings of stomach flu her family suffered and said girl was left in quite the horrible food rut.

And then one day, the heavens opened, and lifted the first-trimester awfulness from her womb. And just like that, pregnant girl returned to real, wholesome food nirvana.

*I'm said pregnant girl. Just for the record. Now let's move on, shall we?*

I have never, ever valued the taste of delicious food like I have these past two weeks. To not only eat delicious food once again but to actually have it sound good… smell good… taste good… sit well in my belly – oh heavens. It's so delightful. So, I quickly welcomed back fresh food with a protein-packed salad.

What we like to call ‘Chop Salad' here on the homestead. Because, yes, it involves a lot of chopping. Lots of itty-bitty little pieces of awesomeness nestled amongst fresh, butterhead lettuce, all drizzled in a homemade red wine vinaigrette.

Your stomach is calling you to this salad. So don't resist. Just adapt it to your taste and what you've got in your refrigerator or garden. The world is your oyster, my friends.

chop salad ingredients in a white stone bowl

Chop Salad

For the croutons:

 – 4 thick slices of homemade bread, such as traditional soaked whole wheat loaf

 – 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

 – 1 teaspoon organic garlic powder

 – Pinch sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the salad:

 – 1 head butterhead lettuce, washed, dried, and torn into bite-size pieces

 – 1/2 pound pastured bacon

 – 2 pounds roasted (read how I do it HERE) or leftover chicken, cut into bite-size pieces

 – 3 eggs

 – 1 cup raw, organic cheese, cut or crumbled into bite-size pieces

 – 3 carrots

 For the dressing:

 – 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

 – 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

 – 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

 – 1 small clove garlic

 – 1/4 teaspoon maple syrup, rapadura, or raw honey
 
– 1/2 cup high-quality extra virgin olive oil
 
– Pinch of sea salt and freshly ground pepper

The Croutons

We must start with the croutons because they'll gently bake while we put together the rest of the salad. To make homemade croutons, here's what I do:

homemade croutons

Step One: Cut the bread slices into nice, big crouton-sized pieces. However big or small you wish is just fine with me – no judgement here.

Step Two: Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Gently toss with your fingers to evenly coat the croutons.

Step Three: Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven until golden, toasted, and fragrant. I always error on the side of over-toasting because that's the way (uh huh, uh huh) I like it (uh huh, uh huh).

The Salad

washed head of lettuce

Step One: Put the washed, dried, and torn lettuce into a large bowl. Large enough to hold the rest of the goodies. Am I the only one who tears lettuce instead of cuts it? I think my Mom told me that's how it must be done. Either way. Get the lettuce in the bowl, baby.

strips of uncooked homemade bacon
bacon cooking in a cast-iron skillet

Step Two: Cut the bacon into small bits and fry in a cast iron skillet until crisp. Remove to a plate and let cool.

chopsalad5cooked bacon cooling on a white plate

Mmm…. crisp bacon! My favorite. Some people are soggy bacon people. I am not one of those people. Crisp bacon for the win, baby.

hand holding three fresh eggs

Step Three: While the bacon is cooking, let's turn our attention to those farm fresh eggs we're going to hard boil. Get a small saucepan of hot water boiling on the stove – just enough water to cover the eggs. Once the water boils, gently drop the whole eggs into the hot water (I always start with room temperature eggs) and boil for 8 minutes. No more, no less. After 8 minutes, quickly run the eggs under cold water. Peel immediately.

Voila! Perfectly peeled eggs. Let's go ahead and slice those beauties into nice, thin egg pieces. 

chicken roasting in a cast-iron skillet

Step Four: Cut the roasted chicken into bite-size pieces as well – I told you, this is a chop salad! Chop, chop, chop. Leftover chicken from making stock works great for this salad, as does any sort of leftover cooked chicken breasts or grilled pieces. I usually use the leftover chicken from one of the home roasted, home raised chickens that we enjoy most Sundays for supper. The skin is lightly salted. Nothin' major, but chicken this good speaks for itself!

peeled carrots

Step Four: Lastly, chop the carrots. Or do as I've done, and peel them into nice, long, beautiful shreds. I like the texture of shredded carrots in salad. But do as you wish.

salad in a green bowl with crumbled cheese on top
salad in a green bowl topped with cooked bacon

Step Five: Compile the salad: lettuce, crumbled cheese, fried bacon bits, chopped chicken, hard boiled eggs, shredded carrots. Looking good, isn't it? That was a rhetorical question. The answer is yes. Of course.

salad in a green bowl topped with hard boiled eggs

The Dressing

black Vitamix blender

I do this in my most super-fantastic Vitamix. The love of my life. The apple of my eye. The most used appliance in my entire kitchen.

spoonful of red wine vinggar being poured into blender

Step One: Add in the red wine vinegar…

spoonful of Dijon mustard being poured into a blender

Step Two: And the the Dijon mustard… and the lemon juice, garlic, and maple syrup.

Step Three: And slowly drizzle in the olive oil while the blender runs (this will help it to whip together and remain that way). Blend for one minute.

homemade salad dressing being mixed in a blender

Mmm! So simple. So fresh.

salad on a colorful table next to chicken and homemade salad dressing

And there, my friends, is a beautiful chop salad. Even if you're not coming out of your first trimester, it's still a dish fit for a protein-starved king. I love that this dish is adaptable – add nuts, sprouts, grilled fish, and a cornucopia of vegetables, all to your liking.

I like this one.

Bacon. Chicken. Cheese. Egg. And enough lettuce to make me feel like I got my vegetable serving.

Enjoy!

The Perfect Chop Salad. | The Elliott Homestead (.com)

For other great meal ideas, no matter what your dietary restrictions, check out the meal planning service I use: Real Plans.

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Comments:

  1. Melissa

    March 12, 2014 at 10:17 am

    Yum! I’m usually skeptical that a salad is a whole meal, but I think this might change my mind. (Convincing my husband might be another thing!) This looks so delicious, though, so it’s definitely going on our menu!

    Reply
  2. jenny

    March 13, 2014 at 3:21 pm

    Raw unpasteurized cheese, when pregnant? Salad looks lovely but would choose feta instead i think, don’t want to risk listeria!

    Reply
    • Jesse

      April 20, 2015 at 5:21 pm

      Yes and fresh raw milk too! 🙂 Way healthier than any health professional wants you to believe. Know your farmer, know your source. It is very healthy and I haven’t ever heard of anyone getting very sick or dying from raw milk or cheese. I cannot say the same for pasteurized milk or cheese from the grocery store…or a whole slew of other food products that you hear about in the news being contaminated.

      Reply
  3. Robyn

    March 14, 2014 at 7:39 pm

    This looks amazing! I agree with Melissa, could absolutely do this for a meal. Can’t wait to try the dressing.

    Reply
  4. sheila miller

    March 14, 2014 at 8:48 pm

    Just reading this at 9:45 pm and I am drooling. can’t wait to get to the market tomorrow for some Bibb lettuce and a great chicken to roast ~ Sunday dinner, here I come! (can’t eat it tomorrow as we have plans for the day…dang)

    Reply
  5. Jenn

    March 14, 2014 at 9:56 pm

    Recently I saw a how one restaurant does a chopped salad and I loved it! Though most items were already fairly small.
    But what they did was put all items in a bowl, including the chicken and chopped it with a double bladed curved knife. When I saw that I went Aha! I need to get one of those so I can make my own chopped salad.
    Your recipe looks delicious, thank you for sharing!
    .

    Reply
  6. Sarah

    March 17, 2014 at 11:56 am

    I added this to our meal plan for the week, and YUM! I made the dressing and tried it first with a side salad, and it was good. HOWEVER, I made the “full” chop salad today – adding the bacon and croutons with that dressing is what MAKES this incredible!

    Reply

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