California Style Chopped Salad

Pin It

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! Ours was great and my gifts included several cooking items including a too cute Susan Branch recipe binder and my first Le Creuset and All-Clad pieces of cookware (thanks honey!). With the holidays winding down, I'm in the mood to clean and organize and just feel lighter. The need to feel lighter also applies to my ever-expanding rear and shed some weight I have gained this year (blog related weight gain, perhaps?).

Giada's recipe for California Style Chopped Salad was a great recipe to transition from the excesses of holiday eating into the lighter fare that the start of the new year demands. This salad came together easily and quickly and is infinitely adaptable. It was so nice to eat something that had crunch! I have been wanting to try agave nectar so I made the dressing too and found the agave nectar added the right amount of sweetness to balance the acidity of the lemon juice. I love grilling romaine lettuce and grilling the vegetables added a subtle smokey flavor. This is a great recipe for any time of the year. I feel lighter already!

California Style Chopped Salad

adapted from Giada DeLaurentis recipe

1 head romaine lettuce, trimmed and halved

1 ear of corn, husk and silk removed

2 small zucchini, halved lengthwise

1/2 pound frozen shrimp

Olive oil for drizzling

salt and pepper

1 avocado, halved, pitted, and diced

Heat grill. Lightly drizzle the lettuce and zucchini with olive oil. Place lettuce halves, cut side down, zucchini, and corn on grill. Cook lettuce until it is slightly wilted and has grill marks. Cook zucchini until tender. Cook corn, turning occasionally so that all sides are grilled, until kernals are tender, about 15 minutes. Drizzle shrimp with olive oil, salt and pepper and toss to coat. Grill shrimp until done.

Chop lettuce, zucchini, and avocado and place in serving bowl. Chop shrimp into bite size pieces and add to bowl. Scrape corn from cob and toss in salad. Serve warm or cold with dressing.

Dressing

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 Tbsp agave nectar

salt and pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

Combine lemon juice, agave nectar, and salt in pepper in bowl. Whisk in olive oil and serve.