Name: Bacon Ranch Chopped Salad Recipe
Ingredients: 6 pieces bacon; 4 cups kale (cut into thin strips); 2 cups beet leaves (cut into thin strips); 2 carrots (julienne the roots and thinly slice the leaves); 4 radishes (julienne the roots and thinly slice the leaves); 2 stalks celery (thinly slice stalk and leaves); 2 stalks Swiss chard (thinly slice the stalk and leaves); 3 green onions (thinly sliced including the green tops); 1/2 cup Ranch Salad Dressing; Optional: parsnip leaves (turnip leaves, and spinach leaves)

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This bacon ranch chopped salad is an easy make-ahead salad recipe.

“I like the stems too”.

My husband was cutting up broccoli for my daughter when she was a toddler when she first said that. He was just putting the florets on her plate and she told him that she liked the stems too. He still quotes her every time he cuts broccoli because he thought it was so darn cute. It was cute, but broccoli stems are also really delicious.

Perhaps it is because I grew up in the country and I know how much work is involved in growing vegetables or maybe it is because I took several years of horticulture and learned which parts of vegetable plants are edible, but I believe in consuming as much of our produce as possible. That means the leaves and stems too.

Or it might be that I’m frugal.

And buying whole vegetables with the stems and leaves still attached is less expensive per pound than buying a part of the vegetable. Seriously think about it: the less of the vegetable you buy, the more they charge you per pound for it! Not only is it less expensive to buy vegetables with the stems and leaves still attached, but then you can use those stems and leaves in recipes. More food for less money; what’s not to love?!?

And if you buy enough produce with edible leaves, you don’t have to buy the box of salad greens. Just saying…

The leaves (or “greens”) of many vegetables are edible including radishes, carrots, celery, beets, parsnips, and turnips. Do a quick google search to make sure the leaves and stems are safe if you are not sure.

Bacon Ranch Chopped Salad Recipe

One of the great things about a chopped salad is everyone expects it to be crunchier than other salads, so you can include all sorts of leaves and stems without raising any eyebrows. I don’t just use radishes and carrots, I chop up their leaves and add them too. When I add spinach, I thinly slice the stems and include them as well.

Ingredients:

6 pieces bacon
4 cups kale, cut into thin strips
2 cups beet leaves, cut into thin strips
2 carrots, julienne the roots and thinly slice the leaves
4 radishes, julienne the roots and thinly slice the leaves
2 stalks celery, thinly slice stalk and leaves
2 stalks Swiss chard, thinly slice the stalk and leaves
3 green onions, thinly sliced including the green tops
1/2 cup Ranch Salad Dressing
Optional: parsnip leaves, turnip leaves, spinach leaves

Directions:

Cook the bacon. While the bacon is cooking, chop the vegetables using as much of them as you can.
Add the chopped vegetables to a large bowl. Add the Ranch Salad Dressing. Toss to coat.
Drain the fat from the bacon and crumble most of it over the salad. Toss to blend. Crumble the last of the bacon over the salad.
Cover the salad and refrigerate it until you are ready to serve.

You can serve the Bacon Ranch Chopped Salad as a side dish or top the salad with roasted root vegetables if you want a more filling meal.