I am a stickler for using most (if not all) of the food in our fridge before we go away, especially produce. We’re heading out of town for a long weekend Thursday(!), so for the past few days I’ve been making every effort to incorporate everything in our fridge into our meals.
I seem to always have leftover celery from making tuna salad. And I seem to always have leftover carrots- but that’s often because we get lazy about peeling them. I like a salad every now and then that doesn’t contain lettuce, and it’s rare I make a salad these days that doesn’t contain olives. In the summer one of my favorite salads is just tomatoes, cucumbers, feta, and kalamata olives. It’s divine. Last night it dawned on me I didn’t really have a winter version. So with what I had on hand, I pulled together this chopped olive salad. With a salad like this, the longer it sits, the better. As the vegetables soak up the dressing, they take on a more pickled flavor. This salad pairs perfectly with pepperoni pizza- true story.
Chopped Olive Salad
Serves 4 as a side dish
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 cup mixed olives, chopped
1/4 cup minced red onion
6 sun dried tomatoes packed in oil, chopped
handful flat leaf parsley, chopped
For the Dressing:
1/2 T french mustard
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp salt
4 grinds black pepper
3 T red or white wine vinegar
1 tsp olive juice (if you have it)
1/3 cup olive oil
Combine all vegetables in a medium size bowl. Whisk together ingredients for dressing, pour over vegetables, toss well. Allow to rest for at least 30 minutes before serving. Can be store covered in fridge for up to 3 days.
