Prepping Ingredients with Mediterranean Chopped Salad

Last month we started talking about how to read a recipe. This month we’re talking about an important step in reading a recipe, which is preparing (or “prepping” for short) our ingredients. We’ll use a salad as our example recipe. The written recipe can be found at the bottom of this post.

As you’ll see, in the ingredient section of this recipe, most of the ingredients are followed by a descriptor such as, “chopped,” “cut in half,” and “rinsed and drained.” In addition to gathering your ingredients, you’ll also need to prep all your ingredients, which entails following those descriptors (for example, chopping the romaine lettuce, cutting the cherry tomatoes in half, and draining and rinsing the chickpeas) as well as measuring everything in the ingredient section. For example, the Italian dressing has no descriptor at the end, but you do need to measure out the correct amount before starting, which, in this case, is 1/4 cup. Once all ingredients are prepped and measured, you’ll be ready to begin following the directions of the recipe. (Bonus fact: this is called mise en place (pronounced meez ahn plahs), which is French for “put in place.”)

For our salad recipe, you’ll see the first step says, “Add all ingredients to a large bowl.” If we didn’t properly prep and measure our ingredients, we might be confused, adding a whole head of lettuce, whole cucumbers, etc. and not understanding how much of each ingredient to add. Once our ingredients are prepped, we are clear on the directions, organized, and the cooking / assembly part of the recipe goes quickly and easily. In a salad recipe like this one, it might not feel important to follow each step quickly but if you were cooking with heat, it would be especially important. You don’t want to be cooking on the stove, ready to add an ingredient such as garlic and then have to find the garlic, peel it, and chop it while cooking. You might burn what you’re cooking on the stove while trying to prepare this ingredient.

Watch our video below to see how we prepare this Mediterranean Chopped Salad from start to finish. Scroll down for the written and printable recipe.

Mediterranean Chopped Salad

Makes 2 servings or 6 side servings

Prep time: 10 minutes, Cook time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 head of Romaine lettuce, chopped

• 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half

• 1/2 cup cucumber, chopped

• 1/2 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

• 1/4 cup feta, crumbled

• 1/4 cup Italian dressing

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients to a large bowl.

2. Mix to fully combine, making sure all ingredients are coated in dressing.

3. Serve and enjoy!