Just in time for my week of salads (yes, all the fun will be over in a week) comes an LA Times article on Chopped Salads. What I love about chopped salads is the amazing blending of flavors thanks to the tiny dice, and that they rescue you from LettuceThink, the idea that a salad equals greens with a few chunks of other stuff.

The link may require registration, so in case, I’m going to reproduce the list of ingredients in one incredible-sounding salad available locally at The Foundry (to which I’ve never been but now would like to). I will be making a slightly simpler version of this very soon. Today’s salad chez Sara, however, will be a Salad Nicoise.

Eric Greenspan’s Foundry Chop

(all ingredients diced)
red-purple beets
roasted butternut squash
fennel
celery
cucumber
currants
piquillo peppers
pistachios
Parmesan and Idiazabal cheeses
arugula, romaine and frisée

I’m curious what kind of vinegar he uses for this. I would say red wine or balsamic, but lean toward red wine. There’s so many flavors going on that the strong flavor of balsamic might cause some overcrowding. Hmmmn….Champagne vinegar? Good-old apple cider?

UPDATE: D’oh!! There’s a link to the actual recipe in that article! Balsamic it is.

The ingredient list from LA Times’ adapted version of the recipe:
2 pounds (about 8) Roma tomatoes
6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Salt
1/4 cup diced butternut squash ( 1/4 -inch dice)
1/4 cup diced roasted red beets ( 1/4 -inch dice)
1/2 cup unsalted, shelled pistachio nuts
1/2 cup diced fennel ( 1/4 -inch dice)
1/2 cup diced celery ( 1/4 -inch dice)
1/3 cup diced cucumber ( 1/4 -inch dice)
1/2 cup dried currants
3 tablespoons diced piquillo peppers ( 1/4 -inch dice)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup grated Idiazabal cheese
8 cups chopped mixed greens, chopped into bite-size pieces (such as arugula, spinach, frisée and romaine)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons golden raisins