Tri-colored Chopped Salad

Its summer salad time and I'll be living on the unlimited variations of the chopped salad. I build a chopped salad on individual plates; instead of a big bowl because it is more visually appealing and all goodies don't fall to the bottom when you toss it.

This was one of the most beautiful and delicious ones so far this summer 2010. The color scheme was triadic- namely purple blueberries, orange kumquats and golden beets, and fresh greens. I chopped up the last chicken thigh that had been marinated in a blend of curry powder chili garlic paste and ¼ slice of preserved lemon, and then grilled. I dressed the salad with my standard, olive oil and homemade red wine vinegar. And voila, a beautiful, nutritious and tasty lunch. I do think about the color wheel and color schemes when putting a chopped salad together, as well a balance of ingredients. So keep color in mind when you select the ingredients and here's an easy guide to how to make a prefect salad, adapted from Sunset magazine:

Reduce the quantity of the ingredients as you work down this list to build your salad.

1. Leaves/Greens: This can include herbs like parsley, spicy greens like arugula, endive, and the many varieties of lettuce, like crunchy romaine, delicate butter, colorful red oak leaf, etc.
   
2. Vegetable: Raw veggies like mushrooms, radishes, carrots, green onions, fennel, tomatoes, cucumbers, fresh peas. Roasted vegetables, like cauliflower, green beans, beets, potatoes peppers, artichokes. Cooked white or garbanzo beans, etc.
   
3. Fruits: They can add sweetness and acidity. Strawberries, kumquats, figs, blueberries, tangerines, oranges, fuyu persimmons, pears, apples, plum, nectarines. Dried fruit like raisins, dried blueberries, cranberries or cherries, chopped dried apricots, and lemon or orange zest.
   
4. Rich tastes: Use sparingly, Meats, i.e. Bacon, prosciutto, smoke salmon, Cheeses, parmesan, pecorino shave with a vegetable peeler, crumbled goat, blue or feta. Nuts, toasted for best flavor, and avocado, which is more like butter than a vegetable so use it sparingly.
   
5. Sour & Salty flavors: Just as accents, sprinkled over the top, olives, capers, anchovies and preserved lemon.