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Arizona Chopped Salad

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Arizona Chopped Salad

This year I’ve been able to visit Phoenix twice – once for a girls’ trip and again in November to teach at Pinners Conference. Luckily I visited in two of the cooler, more pleasant months in Arizona – February and November. My friend introduced me to the Original Chopped Salad – a Phoenix institution. Apparently some call it the official state salad! It’s one of those salads that has so many ingredients you think it won’t mix together well. But then you try it and somehow everything just comes together so deliciously. This chopped salad was amazing. Just be warned the ingredient list may sound busy, but trust me, the flavors all work so well together – salty, sweet, savory, crunchy, peppery. It has it all!

Here’s what’s in the Arizona Chopped Salad: smoked salmon, arugula, cous cous, tomatoes, freeze dried corn*, pepitas, dried currants (I used cranberries), and a basil pesto creamy dressing.

*Note on the freeze-dried corn – it is very hard to find in stores! I went to Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and several local stores but none had it! So, save yourself the running around and just grab it on Amazon! Here is the link. 

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5 from 2 votes

Arizona Chopped Salad

Ingredients

For Salad, Chopped

  • 1/2 c. smoked salmon
  • 2/3 c. freeze dried corn
  • 2/3 c. arugula
  • 1/2 c. cooked Israeli couscous

For Salad, Tomato Mix

  • 1/2 c. diced grape or Roma tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tsp. olive oil
  • 2 basil leaves, sliced thin
  • pinch salt & pepper

For Salad, Trail Mix

  • 1/4 c. dried black currants or cranberries
  • 1/4 c. roasted pepitas
  • 3 tbsp. fresh Asiago cheese

Basil Pesto Buttermilk Dressing

  • 1 c. mayo
  • 1/4 c. buttermilk
  • 1 tbsp. grated Pecorino Romano cheese
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 12 basil leaves
  • 1 tsp. minced garlic

Instructions

Dressing

  • Combine dressing ingredients in a food processor or blender. Process until smooth and combined. Add salt and pepper to taste. Chill until ready to serve.

Trail Mix

  • Combine the currants or cranberries, pepitas and asaigo cheese. Set aside.

Tomato Mix

  • Mix the tomatoes with the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper and basil leaves. Set aside.

Assembling Salad:

  • Lay out the salmon, corn, arugula, couscous, trail mix and tomato mixture in strips on a plate or platter.
    Once ready to eat toss with dressing and enjoy!

Honestly it’s droolworthy. I’ll take this Arizona Chopped Salad for lunch every day please. Click here to see my other healthy dishes. And let me know if you’re going to make this salad!

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5 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Hi, I saw you baking raspberry sweet rolls at Pinners. I loved your session (and the sample of the sweet roll was fantastic!) I can’t wait to try the recipe. Just loaded up on the ingredients today.

    Exploring your site and I found this yummy looking salad. I’ve never actually heard of freeze dried corn. Will I find that at a regular supermarket? In the produce section, with the canned corn, or somewhere else? Thanks for your guidance!

    1. Hi there! I’m so glad you reminded me to link this in the post – it’s actually a pretty hard to find item. Here it is on Amazon – https://amzn.to/2DI7GmL – after running to several stores that didn’t sell it, I realized Amazon was my best bet 😉

      Thanks for coming to my class at Pinners! And let me know how the salad goes 😉
      Shannon

  2. I’ve also made it with frozen corn and it’s still really good! Just throw the frozen corn in at the end so it still has that crunch.

    1. Elizabeth Andelin says:

      5 stars
      Just made your recipe! Thanks so much! I ate this in a restaurant in AZ this weekend and it tastes exactly the same! Love it!

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