Classic Chef Salad

I love everything about Easter dinner…the ham and scalloped potatoes and asparagus, oh my!  And now that Easter is over, everytime I open the refrigerator I find myself juggling the containers of leftovers.  I could just serve the meal all over again, but I love coming up with different ways to use leftovers and keep it interesting.  A perfect example: a Classic Chef Salad! Peel those colorful eggs, and chop up some of that ham and make yourself a beautiful, restaurant-style lunch.

This salad makes a great lunch or even a dinner because it combines greens and veggies with lots of protein. The things that make a chef salad a chef salad are the hard boiled eggs, the ham, tomatoes, cucumbers and cheese.  Beyond that, you can add whatever floats your boat…I added in some carrots because I like the crunch and I have a bunch of those leftover from Easter too! I think some chickpeas, red onion or croutons would be amazing in this salad too.

Once you have everything chopped up, then you just have to throw it over a bed of greens.  It’s that simple. It took me about 5 minutes to dice all the veggies, ham and cheese, but when I sent down to eat lunch, I felt like I had a deluxe take-out salad! Another thing that’s great about this salad is that all kinds of dressings would work well and you don’t need a lot because there are so many flavorful ingredients.  You can use something you have bottled like a Ranch or Creamy Italian, make your own dressing or just give it a quick drizzle of oil and vinegar.  I love this homemade Ranch from Ali at Gimme Some Oven, or this Creamy Honey Mustard dressing from Tiffany at Creme de la Crumb would be so yummy with the ham.

So before you use up all that leftover ham making sandwiches for your family, try making yourself a fancy, pretty salad for lunch. And then…wait for it…actually sit down to eat it and enjoy it!  And if you do, snap a pic and share it with me #thepreservesproject…Enjoy!