From the kitchen of Chef Tse: Mediterranean salad

This colorful salad is packed with Mediterranean flavors and makes a great lunch when you’re on the go. Make a double batch of the salad dressing and keep it in a squeeze bottle in the refrigerator. Then you’ll have a quick homemade salad dressing whenever you need it.

Can’t find fresh mozzarella at the store? You can swap it out for crumbly feta or creamy goat cheese. For an extra special treat, look for pomodoraccio tomatoes. These are semi-dried Italian tomatoes marinated in a mixture of olive oil, herbs and spices. They make a great replacement for the sundried tomatoes and use the oil for the salad dressing.

Mediterranean Salad

From the kitchen of Chef Tse

Serves 4

Dressing

4 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon fresh thyme

1 teaspoon honey

12 tablespoons olive oil

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

Salad

2 ounces sundried tomatoes

8 kalamata olives

2 red peppers, sliced

2 yellow peppers, sliced

4 ounces fresh mozzarella

4 ounces canned artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed

4 cups spinach

4 cups mixed salad greens

In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, thyme, honey, olive oil, salt and pepper. Set aside.

To build salads, put lettuce and spinach in the bottom of a bowl. Place remaining ingredients on top and drizzle on 1 tablespoon salad dressing.

Nutritional information per salad with 1 tablespoon dressing:

Calories: 585; fat: 20g; sodium: 624mg; carbohydrate: 23; fiber: 8g; protein: 12g