DFN Douglas Fast Net Internet Service 100% Oregon Owned and Operated

Tailgating Fun with ‘Chopped Salads’

by Su Stella | Jan 14, 2025 | Foodie news

Share this article

By SU STELLA/ fore The Herald  —  We all love parties, events, and tailgating, but a large number of ‘festival foods’ are greasy, fatty, and not healthy. There is no reason to lose all elements of sanity for party snacks; instead, let’s make a few salads.

We all know that a ‘regular salad’ has big, floppy lettuce leaves, slices of tomato, cucumber, and predictable veggies. If you want a good laugh, watch people awkwardly try to cut their lettuce in a curved salad bowl.

It is rumored that in the 1930s, the Brown Derby restaurant’s Cobb Salad was the original chopped salad, but it never expanded in popularity beyond that restaurant.

During a celebrity-packed dinner at La Scala in Beverly Hills in the 1950s, actress Natalie Wood complained to Chef Jean Leon that “people were wearing evening gowns and tuxedos and that the salad was messy and hard to eat.”

Chef Leon thought, why don’t we chop it? He got to work, and that night, his staff chopped all of the salads. Hollywood fell in love, and the rest of the world caught up with this trend.

I love chopped salads because of the bite-sized pieces, which are about half the size of regular olives. You get a nice mix of everything on your fork. So, let’s sharpen our knives, grab our veggies, and make lunch. Remember, these salad ideas are simply suggestions to get you started; feel free to add, change, alter, or omit anything you want.

Timberline Black Bean Salad
With all of the beautiful views and vistas, Oregonians tend to be hearty people who prefer to be outdoors. Whether you adventure on foot, by bike, or on the water, you can find Oregonians outside, rain or shine. This salad packs the kind of energy you need to thrive in any weather.

2 cans Black Beans
4 Roma Tomatoes
2 small Jalapenos
2 cloves Garlic
1 stalk Celery
1 small Onion

1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
1 teaspoon Garlic
Lemon Juice
Olive Oil
Pepper
Salt

Open and drain your beans
Dice your veggies into small bites
Mix your spices into your veggies
Refrigerate for at least three hours

Lane County’s Salad Stretch
One of the most amazing things about Lane County is that it is about 120 miles long. It starts in the Cascade Mountains and flows down to the Pacific Ocean so that you can enjoy lunch at the Willamette Pass Ski Resort at one end of the county, and then you can eat fresh fish for dinner on the coast.

1 large can or pound Salmon or Tuna
1 can Black Beans or Chickpeas
1 can Diced or Rotel Tomatoes
1 tablespoon Red Wine Vinegar
1 teaspoon Lemon Pepper
1 teaspoon minced Garlic
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1 small Onion

Open, drain, and rinse your beans
Open your fish and Rotel, keep the juice
Combine your ingredients (I use half the Rotel)
Refrigerate for a few hours
Serve with crackers

Bandon’s Cranky Broccoli Salad
It is funny because I grew up in Massachusettes, a few towns away from Plymouth, one of the largest cranberry-growing areas in the United States. I had no idea that Bandon is Oregon’s biggest cranberry producer.

If you have a chance to watch a cranberry harvest, it is worth viewing because cranberries are harvested by floating the berries in flooded fields and then vacuumed up for processing.

1 can diced Chicken
2 cups chopped Broccoli
1 small chopped Red Onion
1/4 cup dried Craisins
1/4 cup crisp Bacon
1/4 cup Sunflower Seeds

Dressing
1 cup Mayo
2 tablespoons Brown Sugar
3 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar

Chop everything into bite-size pieces
Combine your dressing with your veggies
Refrigerate and eat

You can enjoy a guilt-free Superbowl party and end football season wearing your skinny jeans. As the days begin to get longer and we are all getting busier every day, it is time to eat more salads and put on our walking shoes. I will see you on the trails!

Comments

Written by Su Stella

January 14, 2025

Alpine Stream Construction Highway 58 Oakridge Oregon

Archives

Categories

Stay Up to Date With The Latest News & Updates

Join Our Newsletter

Receive news updates directly to your email

Become A Subscriber

Have full uninterrupted access to The Highway 58 Herald.

We are a commuinity supported non-profit media and your support makes a big difference.

Follow Us

Support The Highway 58 Herald and participate in our online discussions, notes from our writers and editors and more.