My folks came for a long visit this past weekend, and we were thrilled when my father, otherwise known as Chef Ira, agreed to cook Friday dinner while the rest of us spent the day at work.  The menu was so great: roasted chicken with diced potatoes, pan-fried Brussels sprouts with caramelized onions, grilled asparagus, and chopped salad.  His chopped salad is “to die for!”  I posted a recipe for it once before on this website, but this is a slightly different version, and worth learning how to make.

When I arrived home from work, Dad had already chopped up 2 tomatoes, 1 vidalia onion, and 2 red peppers into small pieces, and they were sitting in a bowl in the refrigerator.  I broke apart one head of romaine lettuce, rinsed it thoroughly, shook off the excess water, and set it aside.  I did not dry it thoroughly; Dad says you want that little bit of water on the leaves to fall to the bottom of the bowl to become dressing.  I broke apart the lettuce leaves into small, bite-size pieces and put them into the salad bowl along with the tomatoes, onion and red pepper.  

Then I poured 1/4 cup olive oil, plus 2 teaspoons kosher salt, a generous sprinkle of garlic powder, and the juice of 2 lemons onto the salad and tossed it thoroughly.  

As usual, it was amaaaaa-zing.  Thanks, Chef Ira!