Chopped Chef Salad

Recipe by The View From the Great Island

Chopped Chef Salad with Creamy Sweet Onion Dressing ~  the chef salad is an American institution, and probably the original main course salad.  

Ingredients

• creamy Sweet Onion Dressing
• ½ sweet onion such as Vidalia, Maui, or a generic sweet (about 5 ounces)
• 3 tbsp apple cider or champagne vinegar
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 heaped tsp creamy Dijon mustard
• pinch of salt
• ½ tsp white pepper
• ½ cup oil such as grapeseed, I chose to use walnut oil
• chopped chef salad
• 5 ounces (1 tub) butter lettuce hearts (or romaine hearts, or iceberg) chopped
• ½ cup chopped ham
• ½ cup chopped turkey
• ½ cup chopped bacon
• ½ cup chopped tomatoes
• ½ cup chopped cucumber
• ½ cup chopped hard boiled eggs (2 eggs)
• ½ cup chopped Swiss cheese
• ½ cup chopped cheddar cheese
• ½ cup chopped celery
• ½ cup chopped carrots
• ⅓ cup chopped red onion

Method

1. for the dressing
2. Remove the peel and cut the onion in large chunks. Add to the container of a high speed blender such as a Vitamix, along with the vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt and pepper. Blend until well pureed.
3. Scrape down the sides of the container, and then, while the machine is running, slowly drizzle in the oil through a hole in the top. The dressing will become thick and creamy.
4. Taste to adjust any of the seasonings. Keep refrigerated until needed. Note: this recipe makes more than you'll need for this salad, keep the leftover in the fridge and plan to use within 2 weeks. Note: don't use a regular onion for this dressing, it will be too strong.
5. for the salad
6. Put the lettuce in a large salad bowl and add each of the other ingredients. If you'd like to do a composed salad you can arrange them attractively in little piles around the lettuce, otherwise just dump them all in.
7. Lightly dress and then toss the salad. Serve more dressing on the side.

View the recipe instructions at The View From the Great Island