Mediterranean Chopped Salad

This blog post is sponsored by Imagine® Foods, although the content represents my own personal opinion/experience. 🙂

Mediterranean Chopped Salad

This salad is fit for a crowd! It’s not only large enough to feed 6-8 people but its ingredients are essentially larger than life in the flavor they pack! I make my Mediterranean Chopped Salad with simple vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers and onions mixed with chickpeas feta cheese and olives and toss it all in an oil-free salad dressing! Have you made an oil-free salad dressing before? You’ve gotta try it!

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The way I make my oil-free dressing is by using Imagine vegetable broth. Imagine products are made with real wholesome ingredients. They’re organic, with no artificial ingredients or preservatives. And instead of simply flavoring with MSG, the flavor comes from nutrient-packed farm-grown vegetables and fresh herbs – better-tasting and better-for-you! And no need to add any olive oil at all!

What ingredients do you use for a chopped salad?

The great thing about chopped salads is that you can pretty much chop whatever vegetables you want and throw them all together. Since this is a Mediterranean chopped salad, I’m leaning more towards ingredients typical in Mediterranean recipes.

Salad ingredients

• Romaine lettuce: Chop it finely or use other mixed greens instead.
• Tomatoes: Small juicy kinds are best, so I gravitate towards grape or cherry tomatoes and cut them in half lengthwise.
• Persian cucumbers: These are my favorite cucumbers that I essentially always have around and use in my recipes. They are small, sweet and pretty much seedless. They’re also known as the burpless cucumber because they don’t have any stomach upset issues that might be typical of other cucumbers.. The skin is so thin that it’s easier to eat and doesn’t require peeling
• Chickpeas: Canned, rinsed and drained chickpeas work well here. Chickpeas are a great plant-based protein so it actually rounds out this salad to make it a complete meal. If you’re not a fan of chickpeas, white beans work well in this salad as well.
• Kalamata olives: They give a briney salty flavor to the salad. You can also add jarred artichokes or pepperoncinis for a similar effect.
• Red onions: Chop these up the smallest compared to the other ingredients so they blend more easily into the salad and don’t give anyone a big surprise in the mouth when they bite into a large one.
• Feta: Because it’s Mediterranean!

For more added protein, feel free to add chicken or salmon or shrimp to the chopped salad.

Dressing ingredients

You can absolutely just toss this Mediterranean chopped salad with olive oil and lemon juice or any store bought dressing. But the dressing I’m using in this recipe is so quick to make, has less calories than traditional dressing and is actually oil-free! The secret is in the vegetable broth! The vegetable broth does contain some oil which is used to make the vegetable broth. However it is a negligible amount and essentially there is no oil being added to the dressing itself here.

• Vegetable Broth: I use Imagine vegetable broth because it’s made with 100% organic ingredients. It’s literally organic carrots, celery, tomatoes and onions, and infused with herbs and spices. So the broth alone contributes a huge amount to the flavor of the dressing!
• Lemon juice: This adds acidity to the dressing. You can also substitute any type of vinegar, like red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar.
• Dijon mustard: I use mustard to add flavor and to help emulsify the dressing.
• Garlic
• Salt and pepper
• Fresh herbs: Go with what you like or what you have on hand. To enhance the Mediterranean flavors, I use fresh thyme and parsley. You can also use dried herbs instead.

I love that rich golden color of the Imagine vegetable broth! And it makes this lemon herb dressing wonderful for a marinade as well.

While I love using my mini blender to make dressing, this one doesn’t require a blender as long as you press the garlic so it’s almost like a paste. Then, it’s as easy as pouring the dressing ingredients together and whisking until well blended.

All you have to do is chop all the ingredients, make the dressing and then mix everything together right before you serve it. It’s an easy salad that feeds a crowd and has them coming back for seconds. I love that the Mediterranean chopped salad comes goes so well with this oil-free dressing. That really cuts down on the fat and calories of the dressing and the salad overall!

It’s possible to keep this beautiful healthy colorful salad low-calorie without drenching it in oil-based dressings all thanks to the Imagine vegetable broth. It still comes out delicious and no one will believe that there’s no olive oil in the dressing.

If you’ve tried this healthy-ish feel good Mediterranean Chopped Salad recipe or any other recipe on FeelGoodFoodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories!

For more Mediterranean  salads, check out:

• Mediterranean Pasta Salad
• Caprese Pasta Salad
• Lebanese Fattoush Salad
• Tomato Avocado Cucumber Salad

5 from 2 votes

Print

Mediterranean Chopped Salad

Prep Time

15 mins

Total Time

15 mins

 

Make this Mediterranean Chopped Salad for a large crowd. It's full of veges, chickpeas, feta cheese and olives and tossed in an oil-free lemon herb dressing

Course: Salads

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Keyword: Gluten free, healthy, Mediterranean, Salads, Vegetarian

Servings: 6 servings

Calories: 137 kcal

Ingredients

For the salad

• 2 heads romaine lettuce chopped, about 6 cups
• 1 cup grape tomatoes cut in half
• 1 cup Persian cucumbers chopped
• 15 ounce can chickpeas drained and rinsed
• ¼ cup red onion finely chopped
• ¼ cup Kalamata olives pitted, sliced
• ¼ cup feta cheese
• 1 tablespoon parsley chopped

For the dressing

• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 garlic clove pressed
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, combine the lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, chickpeas, red onions kalamata olives and feta cheese.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the to make the dressing. Pour the dressing over the salad and gently toss to combine.
3. Top with parsley and enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Storage: Store any leftovers in an airtight container. They will last about 3-4 days in the fridge. For best results, only toss the salad with the dressing immediately before serving.

Make Ahead Tips: You can make the dressing up to 3 weeks in advance and double or triple the recipe to have it on hand for other salads or even as a marinade

Sourcing: You can find the bulgur at Middle Eastern markets, natural-foods stores or even in large supermarkets, often located with other Middle Eastern ingredients.

Substitutes: For best results, follow the recipe as is. However the salad itself is very adaptable so feel free to add or change any of the ingredients.

Nutrition: Please note that the nutrition label provided is an estimate based on an online nutrition calculator. It will vary based on the specific ingredients you use.  This information should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. The nutrition value is for one serving of the salad which is about 1/6 of the ingredients

This blog post is sponsored by Imagine® Foods, although the content represents my own personal opinion/experience. 🙂

Nutrition Facts

Mediterranean Chopped Salad

Amount Per Serving

Calories 137 Calories from Fat 36

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 4g 6%

Saturated Fat 1g 5%

Cholesterol 5mg 2%

Sodium 548mg 23%

Potassium 723mg 21%

Total Carbohydrates 20g 7%

Dietary Fiber 8g 32%

Sugars 4g

Protein 7g 14%

Vitamin A 371.1%

Vitamin C 20.5%

Calcium 13.3%

Iron 17.4%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.