Cookbook Chronicles: Italian Chopped Salad

Cookbook Chronicles is an on-going series at The Bookery. Over the course of the next year, we'll delve into The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond’s, cookbook, Super Easy! trying one recipe per month.

The recipe: Italian Chopped Salad

The cookbook: Super Easy! by Ree Drummond

The details: When I was flipping through Ree’s Super Easy! cookbook considering different recipes for our July Cookbook Chronicles, we’d just been hit with a few excessive heat warnings here in Middle Tennessee. Frankly, the very thought of turning on my oven and heating up my house made me want to cry, so I quickly turned to the salad section of the book. Knowing I had some pepperoni and salami in the fridge that needed to be used, I figured the Italian Chopped Salad was a no-brainer.

I mean, this recipe involves so many things I love. Olives, peppers, pepperoncinis, artichoke hearts. Add in some mozzarella cheese and chopped italian meats and what’s not to like?

The adjustments: Mark this down! I did not make adjustments on this recipe. I followed it word-for-word and even made Ree’s recipe for Italian dressing even though I had a perfectly good bottle of it in the fridge.

The verdict: I liked the salad, and I’ll likely make it again—especially if excessive heat warnings come along again and I don’t feel like cooking. But I will give a few cautions. First of all, I sorely misjudged how much time it was going to take to chop all the ingredients for this salad. I realize that I got distracted and took a couple of breaks (10-month-old puppies still need lots of bathroom breaks) but it took most of an hour just to chop the ingredients.

The other issue I had with this recipe (and for many of Ree’s recipes if I’m being honest) was how much food it made. If you’re not making a meal to feed 3-4 teenage boys and grown men, like Ree, the recipes can be a little too much. I was layering the salad in jars to take to lunch throughout the week, and I made three jars with leftovers. Because of the moisture in many of the ingredients, the last jarred salad wasn’t quite as fresh as I’d prefer, so I’d recommend either keeping all the ingredients separate and combining just before eating if you want to keep it in the fridge a bit before eating.

Up next: Breakfast Grilled Cheese

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