Recipe for composed salad with lemon-yogurt dressing

When it comes to salads, I subscribe to chaos theory. Toss everything into a bowl, drizzle on a bit of dressing, and have at it with a giant mixing spoon or, even better, with impeccably clean hands. But. Every now and then, it's nice to take a more organized approach, as in this composed salad. Composed doesn't mean complicated; it means orderly. And there's really only one secret to pulling off a composed salad: cut all your components into pieces of the roughly the same size. This salad has a bit of a Greek sensibility about it. The dressing contains Greek yogurt and my favorite Greektown Billygoat Seasoning from The Spice House (you can use any Greek seasoning, or a combination of dried oregano and lemon peel), and feta replaces the more traditional blue cheese in a more traditional Cobb salad.

Composed salad with lemon-yogurt dressing

From the pantry, you'll need: bacon, eggs, lemon, extra-virgin olive oil, Greek yogurt, granulated sugar.

Serves 2-3 as a main course; can be doubled.

Ingredients

6 baby Yukon Gold or red-skinned potatoes, cut in half or quarters
Kosher salt and fresh black pepper
4 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 large eggs
4 slices bacon, cut into 2-inch pieces
Juice of 2 lemons
2 tsp Greek yogurt
1-1/2 tsp Greek seasoning
1/2 tsp sugar
1 small head of romaine lettuce, cubed
1 avocado
1/2 rotisserie chicken breast, or 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cooked, cut into large chunks
3 small (campari or plum) tomatoes, cut into large chunks
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 425°F.

On a small rimmed baking sheet, toss the potato chunks with a sprinkling of kosher salt and black pepper, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. When the oven is hot, roast the potatoes for 25 minutes, or until they are tender when pierced with a knife. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

Put the eggs into a small sauce pan, and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat; then, cover the pan, remove from heat, and set aside for 12 minutes. Rinse under cold water, and let sit in the pan with cold water for 5 minutes. Peel, and cut into quarters.

Place the pieces of bacon in a cold frying pan; separate the pieces so they'll cook evenly. Set the heat to medium, and fry the bacon until it is as crisp as you like it. Remove the cooked bacon to a plate covered with a paper towel, and drain.

In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the lemon juice, Greek yogurt, Greek seasoning, sugar, and remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Shake to emulsify the dressing, and set aside.

Now it's time to assemble the salad. With the lettuce, make a bed in the base of your serving platter. Cut the avocado into chunks, and toss with a few teaspoons of the dressing in a small bowl. Then arrange the ingredients in parallel rows across the platter, as in the photos above (in any order you prefer). Drizzle the remaining dressing over the salad, and top with a pinch of fresh black pepper.

[Printer-friendly recipe.]

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Chicken salad with mustard sauce and lovage
Deconstructed spinach salad on a crunchy whole wheat rice cracker
Caesar salad with shrimp
Quinoa salad with tomato, feta and parsley
Bacon guacamole

Other recipes that use these pantry ingredients:
Un-Cobb salad, from Simply Recipes
Caprese salad, from For the Love of Cooking
Greek beef/chicken salad with tahini yogurt dressing, from Use Real Butter
Greek salad with a creamy dressing, from Inspired Taste
Tzatziki chicken salad, from Poor Girl Eats Well

Need more ideas for how to create salads with pizzazz? Get Dress Up Your Salad, my e-book packed with easy mix-and-match recipes, full-color photos and a few fun videos. Exciting salad recipes from everyday ingredients can be just one click away, on any computer, tablet or smart phone, with the FREE Kindle Reading app. Click here to learn more.

Composed salad with lemon-yogurt dressing

From the pantry, you'll need: bacon, eggs, lemon, extra-virgin olive oil, Greek yogurt, granulated sugar.

Serves 2-3 as a main course; can be doubled.

Ingredients

6 baby Yukon Gold or red-skinned potatoes, cut in half or quarters
Kosher salt and fresh black pepper
4 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 large eggs
4 slices bacon, cut into 2-inch pieces
Juice of 2 lemons
2 tsp Greek yogurt
1-1/2 tsp Greek seasoning
1/2 tsp sugar
1 small head of romaine lettuce, cubed
1 avocado
1/2 rotisserie chicken breast, or 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cooked, cut into large chunks
3 small (campari or plum) tomatoes, cut into large chunks
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 425°F.

On a small rimmed baking sheet, toss the potato chunks with a sprinkling of kosher salt and black pepper, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. When the oven is hot, roast the potatoes for 25 minutes, or until they are tender when pierced with a knife. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

Put the eggs into a small sauce pan, and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat; then, cover the pan, remove from heat, and set aside for 12 minutes. Rinse under cold water, and let sit in the pan with cold water for 5 minutes. Peel, and cut into quarters.

Place the pieces of bacon in a cold frying pan; separate the pieces so they'll cook evenly. Set the heat to medium, and fry the bacon until it is as crisp as you like it. Remove the cooked bacon to a plate covered with a paper towel, and drain.

In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the lemon juice, Greek yogurt, Greek seasoning, sugar, and remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Shake to emulsify the dressing, and set aside.

Now it's time to assemble the salad. With the lettuce, make a bed in the base of your serving platter. Cut the avocado into chunks, and toss with a few teaspoons of the dressing in a small bowl. Then arrange the ingredients in parallel rows across the platter, as in the photos above (in any order you prefer). Drizzle the remaining dressing over the salad, and top with a pinch of fresh black pepper.

[Printer-friendly recipe.]

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Chicken salad with mustard sauce and lovage
Deconstructed spinach salad on a crunchy whole wheat rice cracker
Caesar salad with shrimp
Quinoa salad with tomato, feta and parsley
Bacon guacamole

Other recipes that use these pantry ingredients:
Un-Cobb salad, from Simply Recipes
Caprese salad, from For the Love of Cooking
Greek beef/chicken salad with tahini yogurt dressing, from Use Real Butter
Greek salad with a creamy dressing, from Inspired Taste
Tzatziki chicken salad, from Poor Girl Eats Well

Need more ideas for how to create salads with pizzazz? Get Dress Up Your Salad, my e-book packed with easy mix-and-match recipes, full-color photos and a few fun videos. Exciting salad recipes from everyday ingredients can be just one click away, on any computer, tablet or smart phone, with the FREE Kindle Reading app. Click here to learn more.

Comments

Now this is the kind of salad organization I can support. The Greek dressing is a great way to vary the flavors of a classic composed salad.

What a pretty salad! All of my favorite things on one plate!

As an aside, I haven't visited your site in a while (RSS), but I love the header. Not sure when you put that up, but it looks awesome!

what a beautiful show stopper. I am going to make this for my next visitors for lunch!!

Cookin' Canuck, every now and then a little orderliness is just right! I love the tang of the Greek yogurt dressing on this.

Nick, thanks so much. Glad you stopped by.

Carol, lucky visitors! I think this is the most organized salad I've made in ages!

Cobb rejects chaos -- this one is a keeper!