A creamy, delicious, and healthy dressing highlight this elegant-but-easy Chopped Salad with Buttermilk-Pesto Dressing dinner salad that will impress everyone.
Salad and I have a very strained relationship. I know it’s good for me, but it’s a forced relationship ….it doesn’t come naturally. Like any relationship, there are ups and downs, good times and bad. Then, once in a while, salad surprises me and at least for a time, I am head over heels.
Lawd that was hokey….but it’s hard coming up with new and different ways to describe lettuce.
This salad is my version of one my husband and I had at a tapas restaurant in Savannah, GA, a couple years ago. R-A-R-E-L-Y does a salad make such an impression on me that here I am years later still smitten. It was that good. My recipe is that good. And, bonus, my recipe is perfectly healthy! One thing I learned in this copyKat endeavor was that a super creamy dressing can be made without a bit of mayonnaise. Life as I know it will never be the same, so stay tuned…
Chopped Salad with Buttermilk-Pesto Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 6.5 oz bag butter lettuce and green leaf lettuce salad mix
- 2 cucumbers seeded and diced
- 1/4 c diced red onion
- fresh cracked pepper
Buttermilk-Pesto Dressing
- 1/2 c light buttermilk
- 1/2 c plain Greek yogurt
- 1 T Basil Pesto or store-bought
- pinch kosher salt
Instructions
- On a large cutting board, chop the butter and green leaf salad mix to make the pieces even smaller. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the cucumber and red onion. Spoon in some Buttermilk-Pesto Dressing and toss, adding enough dressing to coat all the salad evenly. Yield: 4 servings as a side salad.
For the Buttermilk-Pesto Dressing
- Whisk ingredients together until smooth. Store in the refrigerator up to one week.
~✿♥✿~
I like a good salad. However, they can rack up a lot of calories. This looks really good. Thanks!
Beautiful salad. I love pesto in dressings!
This sounds delish! I wish I had some right now… but I am pinning for later 😉
Stacy
http://www.anygirlcandoit.com
I always make my own salad dressings but I never use buttermilk. I need to try this. It looks wonderful to me, Erica! I hope you will join us again at Foodie Fridays!!
Hi Erica – Thanks so much for sharing this with the Let’s Get Real Party. I’m pinning it to our group board. It look delicious! I have a batch of homemade pesto I can use in it.
Thanks for coming and linking up at #The Weekend Social. Please be sure to come back next week starting Thursdays at 9PM EST on Kitchen Dreaming.com ! I hope to see you there! Pinned
Love fresh buttermilk dressing. Adding pesto, genius! Thanks for partying with us this week at Let’s Get Real.
Beautiful and healthy! I love your salad. And, I love that you used pesto in the dressing. That’s such a great use of pesto! I’ve been eating more salads lately, maybe because it’s hotter and lighter food just tastes better.
Yum! This salad looks beautiful, Erica, and I love how you lightened up the buttermilk dressing with Greek yogurt instead of the traditional mayo. I’m not always a fan of salad and struggle making them for myself at home, but if I find more recipes like this, I know I will be!