this late summer chopped salad is easy and delicious. combining crisp romaine & cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, chickpeas, fresh mozzarella, basil and avocado – I recommend topping with a homemade balsamic shallot vinaigrette and croutons.
Okay, okay, okay. So it’s not really late summer quite yet…but I can’t help it. As soon as fall is around the corner, I can’t contain my excitement!
The heat during the last couple months of summer in Charlotte is so bad that I find myself yearning for the crisp, cool, days of autumn so much by the time August rolls around.
BUT, since we’re still officially in summer for another month (and the weather here won’t cool down for a while after that!) I’m resisting my urge to cook and bake with fall flavors and instead embracing those still around!
This salad is simple, delicious and can be customized to suit whatever your preferences are – doesn’t get much better than that if you ask me!
I chose to top it with a homemade balsamic shallot vinaigrette but you can totally use a basic oil & vinegar or your favorite store-bought dressing!
I also cubed up some french bread that I toasted with a little olive oil and salt for easy homemade croutons. You can also skip the extra work and just slap some butter on bread and serve alongside if you want (I’ve totally done this too!).
Swap in whatever lettuce you like best, use chicken or steak instead of chickpeas if you prefer and mix up any of the other veggies & cheese to make it your own. No matter what you do, I promise it’ll be easy and delicious!
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late summer chopped salad
- Prep Time: 5-7 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 5-7 minutes
- Yield: 1 salad 1x
- Category: lunch
Description
this late summer chopped salad is easy and delicious. combining crisp romaine & cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, chickpeas, fresh mozzarella, basil and avocado – I recommend topping with a homemade balsamic shallot vinaigrette and croutons.
Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 2–3 large handfuls romaine lettuce, washed, roughly torn/chopped
- 1/2 avocado, pitted
- 1/3 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/3 cup seedless cucumbers, sliced
- fresh mozzarella, roughly torn (as much or as little as you want – or swap in another cheese!)
- Fresh basil, minced
- Optional toppings: homemade croutons, salt & pepper, dressing (recipe below)
For the Dressing (from NYTcooking):
- 1–2 shallots, peeled & minced (~3 tablespoons)
- Juice from 1 small lemon (~2 tablespoons)
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- Salt & pepper, to taste
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
Instructions
For the Salad:
- Combine everything into a bowl and toss with dressing then top with desired toppings.
For the Dressing:
- Throw everything into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Top salad with it.
Keywords: meatless, salad, chickpeas, avocado, mozzarella, basil, cucumber, tomato, salt, pepper
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