triple pickle chopped salad
the perfect pairing for pizza night, plus chaotic clips of emeril lagasse that will bring you joy
i recently had greek maroulosalata for the first time, and i loved it. it’s a simple 5-minute salad made from a straightforward handful of ingredients with lots of crunch, tang and salt. while that recipe is not leaving my chopped salad repertoire anytime soon, it did serve as the launch pad for this new salad recipe that, in emeril lagasse’s words, "kicks it up a notch!” in the salty, crunchy, and spicy departments.
this triple pickle chopped salad is nearly equal parts toppings and leaves, as i personally love a salad to be. the three pickles are dill pickles (you can use whole, spears, or even slices here), green olives, and hot peppers rounded out with red onion, scallion, feta cheese and, of course, plenty of fresh dill. in lieu of a “real” dressing, the entire salad is doused in pickle brine and finished with olive oil because, well, that’s all it needs.
this salad is great as a quick lunch with a slice of toast or some croutons (a scattering of chickpeas would not be out of place either), but it’s also a perfect pairing with pizza. if you like things a bit more mild and less spicy, use a milder pickled pepper or swap them out completely for more olives.
serves 2 as a meal, 4 as a side salad
60 grams red onion
2 tablespoons dill pickle brine, plus more to taste
2 scallions
15 grams fresh dill
100 grams dill pickles
50 grams pitted green olives
25 grams pickled hot peppers (substitute: pickled banana peppers)
100 grams feta cheese
200 grams romaine lettuce (substitute: iceberg lettuce, which i love, so don’t come at me)
50 grams radicchio (substitute: red cabbage, kale)
1 - 2 tablespoons olive oil
black pepper
peel and thinly slice red onion. add it and the pickle brine to a large bowl and toss together. thinly slice scallions, roughly chop dill and pitted green olives, mince dill pickles and pickled hot peppers, and add everything to the bowl with the onions.
crumble feta cheese over the ingredients in the bowl, then thinly slice romaine and radicchio and place on top. if you want to serve the salad later, at this point you can cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and transfer it to the fridge; it will keep well for up to 2 hours.
when ready to serve, toss to combine. season with black pepper, taste and add more pickle brine and black pepper, if needed. add olive oil and toss through until everything is well coated. serve immediately.