mediterranean chopped salad

servings
4

method

Chopped salads are incredibly simple to make—you have to give them a go. If nothing else, they can offer you some chopping practice, so why not make something tasty while you’re practicing your knife skills? Anyone can make these salads—just make sure you use a good sharp chef’s knife and your biggest chopping board—and watch your fingers.

What I want to show you here is that the sky’s the limit when it comes to the different ingredients you can add to a chopped salad. –you can use whatever’s available. The only rule I would give you is to always include a couple of handfuls of crunchy lettuce to give your salad a really good texture. Try out different things, and don’t feel obliged to use the same old stuff all the time. Bell peppers, tomatoes, herb sprigs, different types of cheese…you can get any or all of these into a chopped salad.

Get yourself a large chopping board and a large sharp knife. Press down on the olives with the palm of your hand to squeeze the pits out, then discard the pits. Start choppng the harder, crunchier veggies first. Peel and slice your onion, halve, seed, and finely chop your chile. Chop the olives and the tomatoes. Bring it all into the center of the board and continue chopping and mixing together. Add the lettuce leaves and basil and chop them up too. When everything is well chopped, you’ll have a big mound of salad on the board. Make a well in the middle and drizzle in 6 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Mix up so everything gets dressed and serve straight from the board or in a bowl.

This recipe is taken from Jamie's Food Revolution by Jamie Oliver (Hyperion). © Jamie Oliver, 2009

ingredients

• A small handful of black olives
• ½ a red onion
• 1 red chile
• 3 firm ripe tomatoes
• 1 Romaine lettuce
• A bunch of fresh basil
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

share this page

daily recipe rss

new recipe rss

tried this recipe or a similar one? share your tips... be the first to comment on this recipe

leave comments

related recipes

roasted cauliflower with cumin, coriander and almonds
When most people think of ways to cook cauliflower they will come up with either boiling or gratinating...
Read more