Salad Bar Salad Featuring Broccoli

Take a look at the ingredients of this salad. What do they remind you of? Exactly: the salad bar at Round Table Pizza. Okay, we know Round Table Pizza is a uniquely West Coast, USA experience (we’re really sorry about that, rest of the world), but close your eyes and try to remember the last salad you ate at a salad bar. Are you seeing lettuce? Chopped carrots and cucumbers? Kidney beans? Yup, that’s it. This is the ultimate Salad Bar Salad.

The great thing about salad bars is that they’re the closest thing you can get to making your own in a restaurant. Don’t like mayonnaise-based dressings? No problem. Don’t want a pale, green-ish cherry tomato anywhere near your salad? You got it. Salad bar salads are the ultimate salad for the picky, ahem…discerning, eater.

We took what we consider quintessential salad bar ingredients and added a heap of broccoli. There’s a bit of a twist though: We blanched the broccoli for two minutes. It gives the broccoli a nice texture compared to raw broccoli but retains its crunch.

One ingredient that you might find at a salad bar but not in our Salad Bar Salad, is cottage cheese. I wonder what salad bar czars think cottage cheese has to do with salad? Maybe that’s just us.

Because you’re making this salad at home, you’re not limited to boring salad bar dressing choices. Though if eating this salad is just an excuse to pile on the ranch, by all means, have at it. We made a simple lemon-herb vinaigrette.

And don’t forget the toppings. You know the little toppings section at the end of the salad bar? Perfectly cubed croutons, artificially pink bacon bits, and sunflower seeds. (Hint: Go for the sunflower seeds.)

Now, we can’t help but think there’s something missing from this picture. A Garlic Parmesan Twist or two? But we’ll leave that to the pizza lobby.

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Salad Bar Salad Featuring Broccoli

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Servings:

Ingredients

• 4

  cups

  red leaf lettuce

  4

  cups

  red leaf lettuce

• 2

  cups

  broccolichopped

  2

  cups

  broccolichopped

• 1

  cup

  red cabbageshredded

  1

  cup

  red cabbageshredded

• 1

  15 oz can

  kidney beansdrained and rinced

  1

  15 oz can

  kidney beansdrained and rinced

• 2

  tbsp

  sunflower seeds

  2

  tbsp

  sunflower seeds

• 2

  carrotsdiced

  2

  carrotsdiced

• 1

  cucumberdiced

  1

  cucumberdiced

Instructions

1. Tear lettuce into bite-sized pieces.
2. Top lettuce with remaining vegetables and sprinkle sunflower seeds over the top.
3. Drizzle with your favorite salad bar-style dressing, such as ranch, blue cheese, vinaigrette, or oil and vinegar.

Notes

This salad works great as a make-ahead meal. Keeps refrigerated for 3-4 days.

 

 

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