Extraordinary Green on Green Salad

Okay, I hear you:

“Green salad…EXTRAORDINARY??? Really??”

Yes! I mean it — it is really extraordinary!

There are several things that make this salad extraordinary:

• It has no lettuce. Now, wait – I like lettuce as much ((maybe not quite as much)) as the next guy. But, it seems like as soon as you throw lettuce into a salad, it becomes a plain old lettuce salad. You know what I mean??
• It is a good way to use leftover bits of veggies that are just busy cluttering your fridge.
• It is super easy to make.
• It is healthy. Momma always said “Eat your veggies!”. This is a great way to obey momma.
• It is a yummy dish to make for your vegan, vegetarian & gluten-free friends ((so make a note)).

For this recipe, I used celery, English ((aka burpless)) cucumber, a smidgen of white onion and a handful of fresh cilantro and parsley. If you have a quarter of a green bell pepper, a handful of chives, some broccoli and cauliflower florets, feel free to toss them in too. I also used a good quality white wine vinegar, non-GMO canola oil, a few teaspoons of raw cane sugar & a teaspoon of McCormick’s Montreal Steakhouse seasoning blend.

One of my favorite ((therapeutic)) things to do in the kitchen is to chop veggies. I don’t know why – it just is. So much so that as soon as my kitchen was free of construction debris from our recent tile demo, this salad is the very first thing I made.

So, wash the veggies and herbs, quarter the cucumber & cut the celery stalks ((including leaves)) in half length-wise and get to chopping. Once you get to the white onion, take care to use only a few tablespoons of FINELY chopped onion. Next, chop up your herbs – I like to leave mine in the bunch to wash, dry and cut. It is a little easier to control.

Combine veggies to a medium mixing bowl and add the remaining vinaigrette ingredients. Give the mixture a few good tosses to evenly coat and allow it to rest for 30-45 minutes before serving. You can refrigerate while resting but it isn’t necessary.

Once it is ready to serve, give the salad a few mores tosses & enjoy.

 *I have found that is salad is the perfect way to use up that celery that has started to wilt. So, next time you have wilty celery sitting around, don’t toss it into the garbage – chop it up and make this salad!