Chopped Salad

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A while back, my friend Amelia wrote about this chopped salad which comes from the Mozza Cookbook by Nancy Silverton (and Matt Molina and Carolynn Carreno!). I had been eying the same recipe. As is often the case in these circumstances, I lost interest after reading Amelia’s post. Not because she made the salad seem bad, because, well, blogging is just weird—this sort of thing happens. But time passed and spring hit the horizon. All I want are fresh fruits and vegetables but I do not have them yet and I thought of this salad again. And I made it. And it is great and you should make it too. I agree with Amelia that you should make the chickpeas (ceci) as described, they are worth the effort. But I also think the whole salad is worth the effort. Chopped salads are among my favorites. It is a delicious meal, and we were able to get four hearty servings out of it.

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Chopped salads and death do not go that well together, but I am super bummed about Roger Ebert’s death. I didn’t personally know Ebert, though we did live in the same neighborhood for a while. I would sometimes see him and his wife out for an evening stroll. This was long before any illness. You would recognize his familiar voice in the dark before making out his face. I don’t know what it is like where you are, but Chicago felt so very sad yesterday afternoon. He was loved by his fellow citizens.

My friend Katie owns a copy of I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie which is a collection of Ebert’s best negative film reviews. We would crack each other up reading parts of it aloud. His review of Anna and the King remains my favorite.

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You can get the chopped salad recipe over at Amelia’s (or better yet, buy the book which is fantastic). One of my favorite things about Nancy Silverton is how controlling she is about salads. You’ll see when you read the recipe. She tells you EXACTLY what to do. But she is also always right, so just listen to her. Except I am now going to tell all of the ways in which I didn’t listen to her. Oh, I don’t know. I wanted more onion, which I almost always do, so I nearly doubled it—same with pepponcini. I cut the provolone into cubes rather than strips, I like cubes in chopped salads. And I used a Milano salami from Creminelli, which is basically the same as a Genoa. So, minor adjustments, but I listened to most of what she told me to do. Also, the ceci recipe is really special and what you don’t use in the salad you’ll find plenty of reasons to eat.

16 comments to “Chopped Salad”

  1. I love Mozza’s cookbook, though there are a lot of steps in each recipe (sor of like Sunday Suppers at Lucques).
    I have made this chopped salad many times, always a hit!

  2. Typo alert! Your first sentence spells Nancy’s last name Silverson (but it’s correct in the last paragraph). Love her books, haven’t tried this salad yet but have baked my way through her Breads From LaBrea Bakery book.

  3. Love the cookbook and have made the salad and agree, delish! I too mourn the passing of Roger, a very special human!

  4. I love this salad! Next time I will try Nancy’s recipe for cooking dried chickpeas. The only thing I changed was to use less olive oil in the dressing. I like the dressing to be very tangy! Oh, and more peperoncini. Mahalo Tim!

  5. Ooo. This cookbook keeps popping up on my Amazon suggested purchases list, and if this is the kind of food that’s included, it should definitely go on my wish list.

    I’m also really bummed about Roger’s passing, but I’m also in awe at the sheer volume of work he has churned out, especially in the last few years. I’m going to miss his New Yorker cartoon caption submissions (he’d always tweet his entry) in addition to his always-fascinating insights into film, even if I didn’t agree with what he had to say.

  6. Tim, if I may suggest, you should make a dish as a tribute to Mr. Ebert. Also you should make macaroons. Just throwing those ideas out there.

  7. So simple but in yet beautiful!

  8. This looks great. Also, “It is almost impossible to play a dumb person who is supposed to be smart” = ha ha! He was so insightful.

  9. Hey! Thanks for the shout-out! Yours looks amaaaazing.

    Alsoooo, spent a lot of time with Wheaton people this weekend. I kept asking them: “What’s up with the expensive, exclusive restaurants?!” (No I didn’t. But I thought about it!)

  10. Mouthwatering photos & thanks for a great post!

  11. YUM! This looks so good. Love the oregano vinaigrette. I’ve made a few of Nancy’s recipes and you are correct, she is very particular. But everything always comes out well, so I’m not complaining!

  12. I agree with you about Roger Ebert; we lost an icon, as well as Annette Funicello, it has been a sad week. On another note, thank you for the chopped salad recipe. I love chopped salads. I even have chopped salad scissors that make it easy to make one. I will definitely try this one!

  13. You make a salad actually look like eating, something that is rare for me. Might try this, thanks for sharing. Tom

  14. I doubled the chickpea recipe and used the extra for hummus. Definitely worth the effort.

  15. Great for dinner, especially as the weather starts to heat up.

  16. Love this salad at Mozza and am ready to make one myself. One day…

What do you think?