The Salad You’ll Make All Summer (and Brag About, Too)

Here is a salad you’ll want to keep in your back pocket all summer: crunchy, fresh and densely packed full of whatever’s in season. The secret? A simple lemony dressing punched up with nutritional yeast for a hit of savoury, almost cheesy flavour.

This recipe comes from Cindy Lazarenko, a fixture in Edmonton’s food scene for over 30 years. She’s been a restaurant owner, award-winning chef, educator and consultant — and now she’s partnering with her brother Brad Lazarenko, founder of the Culina Family of Restaurants, to open Culina Famiglia, an Italian family restaurant set to launch in McCauley next month.

Everything’s chopped fine so you get the perfect bite every time — and while it takes a little up-front effort, it holds up great in the fridge and can be eaten as a side, in a wrap or even piled onto a burger. And, Lazarenko says proudly, it’s one of those recipes that gets better each time you make it. “It might be the best salad I’ve ever made.”

Cindy’s Chopped Salad with Seasonal Vegetables Recipe

Salad Ingredients:

• 1 head romaine lettuce (or other crisp, seasonal lettuces), finely chopped
• ½ long English cucumber (seeds removed), finely chopped
• 1 cup bell peppers, finely chopped
• ½ to 1 garden tomato (any variety), chopped as fine as possible — include the juice!
• 1 cup carrots, grated
• ½ cup radishes, finely chopped
• ½ cup celery, finely chopped
• ¼ cup red or green onion, finely chopped
• ¼ cup fresh herbs (parsley, dill, basil, mint), finely chopped
• ¼ cup pitted green olives, finely chopped

Optional Add-ins

• Toasted sunflower, pumpkin seeds, pine nuts or almonds
• Dried fruits or cranberries (finely chopped)
• Hemp seeds
• Fresh or grilled corn
• Chickpeas
• Feta cheese

Salad Instructions:

1. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.

Dressing Ingredients:

• 1-2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Juice of ½ to 1 lemon

Dressing Instructions:

1. Combine olive oil and lemon juice.
2. Add 1 tbsp of nutritional yeast to start, adjust to taste.
3. Mix until smooth.
4. Pour over salad and toss well.