Like many of my creations, this was born out of necessity. I was prepping dinner, started to make a salad and found that I had no lettuce.
Since I was about five minutes from serving, buzzing out to the store was not in the cards. So I surveyed my inventory and decided that I could make a lettuce-free salad. It was colorful, tasty and no one felt something was missing. Here’s what I did:
Lettuce-Free Chopped Salad
Serves 2
The ingredient list below is just a guide. Use what you have: Carrots? Green beans? Cucumbers? Scallions? Sure!
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half
1 bunch parsley, coarsely chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
1 small beet, peeled and grated
¼ of a small head of cabbage, coarsely chopped (about 1 cup)
1 avocado, cut into cubes
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
Sprinkle of salt, pepper and garlic powder
If serving immediately, mix all the ingredients, toss well and enjoy.
If you’re making the salad more than 20 minutes ahead of the meal, wait to cut the avocados, and toss them in with the oil, vinegar and seasonings when you are ready to serve.