There is nothing better than Spring salad greens out of the garden. This time of year they are coming out of the garden in hordes. But garden lettuces can easily become overwhelming if you don’t have a plan for them.
I’ve gotten a lot of requests for weeknight meals lately. Though I feel a little unqualified to talk about quick and easy weeknight meals as my weeknights don’t usually look too different from my weekend nights this time of year, I figured this recipe would be a good one.
Once a week we make some kind of salad for dinner, often on a night where we have had to run out in the afternoon. Errands, appointments, soccer practice, etc. Salads are quick to assemble, easy to clean up and provide a nice, healthy dose of greenery for our bodies once a week. Not to mention perfect in this season for using up garden produce. This recipe not only uses lettuces from the garden, but garden herbs, sourdough croutons and pasture-raised chicken. It’s a super quick, easy and delicious way to feed your family any night of the week!
Garden Chop Salad with Green Goddess Dressing
DifficultyEasy
Servings4
Prep time43 minutes
Cook time15 minutes
Total time60 minutes
Once a week we make some kind of salad for dinner, often on a night where we have had to run out in the afternoon. Errands, appointments, soccer practice, etc. Salads are quick to assemble, easy to clean up and provide a nice, healthy dose of greenery for our bodies once a week. Not to mention perfect in this season for using up garden produce. This recipe not only uses lettuces from the garden, but garden herbs, sourdough croutons and pasture-raised chicken. It’s a super quick, easy and delicious way to feed your family any night of the week!
Ingredients
Salad
- 2 heads romaine lettuce
- 4 handfuls mixed greens
- 3 slices bacon, cooked and chopped
- 1 ea chicken breast, cooked and sliced
- 5 slices sourdough bread, cubed and toasted
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shaved
- 1 cup cannelini beans, drained
- sea salt, to taste
- pepper, to taste
Dressing
- 1 ea avocado`
- 1 ea orange, juiced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp kefir
- 1 cup fresh herbs , I used cilantro, parsley, chives and thyme
- sea salt, to taste
- pepper, to taste
Instructions
Salad
- 1
Cook bacon in a cast-iron skillet until crispy, remove to a paper towel and set aside. Then, cover your chicken with salt and pepper, drizzle a little olive oil into the hot skillet and cook your chicken in the bacon grease. Cook until done and set aside to cool.
- 2
Turn oven on at 400 degrees. Slice sourdough bread into chunks, place on sheet pan with parchment paper and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and toast for about 10-15 minutes until crispy and golden brown. Set aside.
- 3
The night before I soaked 1 cup canellini beans in 3 cups water, with 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar. Then, a few hours before dinner I drained and rinsed the beans, added them to my instant pot with 2 cups water, a sprinkle of salt and pepper and 2 bay leaves. I cooked them on the “Bean” setting for 3o minutes. Then drained and rinsed them and set them aside. You could easily use canned beans, drained and rinsed as well.
- 4
Prepare lettuce by washing, spinning and cutting to desired size. I like mine bite sized so I chop it pretty good. Use a peeler to make large slices of parmesan cheese. Assemble ingredients, toss with dressing and serve!
Dressing
- 1
In a blender, combine all ingredients. Whiz until smooth and creamy. Spoon over salad and enjoy! Makes about 1 cup of dressing.
Equipment
Keywords:Garden Salad, Garden Greens, Spring Greens, Spring Salad, Sourdough Croutons, Green Goddess Dressing, Salad Dressing