Bang Bang Chopped Salad
Romaine lettuce, red cabbage, yellow bell pepper, cucumber, edamame, and red onion come together in this crunchy, colorful chopped salad. The unique Bang Bang dressing adds sweet and heat.
I love chopped salads. I love their color and crunch. I love how everything is cut into bite-size pieces. I love the simplicity and flexibility of the ingredients. But most of all, I love having a bowl of nutrient-packed vegetables to munch on after a holiday season of indulgences.
The dressing for today’s salad is a spin on the Bang Bang sauce made famous by Bonefish Grill. They serve this creamy, sweet, and spicy sauce with a shrimp appetizer and it’s absolutely delicious. I decided to turn this unique sauce into a salad dressing and pair it with an assortment of chopped vegetables to create a flavorful chopped salad. I lightened up the dressing by replacing some of the mayonnaise with reduced-fat sour cream. As for the source of heat, I used a chili garlic sauce. Depending on your tolerance for spicy heat, use between one half to one full tablespoon in the dressing recipe.
For a little protein boost, I added edamame (ed-ah-mah-may) to the salad. Edamame are immature, green soybeans that are harvested before they ripen. The fuzzy pod that houses the soybeans is inedible. The edible green beans inside have a firm, somewhat dense texture. They taste a lot like lima beans, only a bit sweeter with a slight nutty flavor.
Edamame is nutrient packed. It’s a complete source of protein, meaning it provides all nine essential amino acids. One half cup of shelled edamame supplies nine grams of protein, making it a perfect addition to vegetarian and vegan diets. These green soybeans also provide a nice dose of dietary fiber – about 10 percent of the recommended daily amount per half cup. Edamame has an impressive array of vitamins and minerals including folate, vitamin K, thiamin (vitamin B1), iron, potassium, and calcium.
One final thing I love about chopped salads is that they can be prepared several hours ahead of time. All the vegetables can be cleaned and chopped in advance and kept chilling in the fridge. The dressing can be made ahead of time as well and stored separately. For maximum crunch, add the salad dressing to the vegetables just before serving. Tossing the vegetables in the dressing too far in advance can result in a soggy salad.
To your health,
Darlene
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BANG BANG CHOPPED SALAD
Yield: 4 servings
Serving Size: 1 3/4 cups salad
Prep: 15 minutes
Ready: 20 minutes
INGREDIENTS
Salad dressing
1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream (such as Daisy Light Sour Cream)
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon agave nectar or honey
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
1/2 tablespoon to 1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce (such as Huy Fong Foods Chili Garlic Sauce)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Salad
4 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 cup shredded red cabbage
3/4 cup diced cucumber
3/4 cup yellow, red or orange bell pepper, cut into bite-size strips
3/4 cup frozen shelled edamame, thawed
1/4 cup finely diced red onion
DIRECTIONS
To prepare salad dressing, whisk together sour cream and mayonnaise in a small bowl until smooth. Add agave, vinegar, chili garlic sauce, and salt, and whisk until combined. Refrigerate until ready to use.
To a large bowl, add lettuce, cabbage, cucumber, bell pepper, edamame, and red onion. When ready to serve, pour dressing over salad vegetables and toss to combine.
Nutrition Information per Serving
177 Calories, 11 g Total fat, 2 g Saturated fat, 0 g Trans fat, 11 mg Cholesterol, 265 mg Sodium, 15 g Total carbohydrate, 3 g Dietary fiber, 10 g Total sugars, 4 g Added sugars, 5 g Protein, 0 mcg (0%) Vitamin D, 113 mg (8%) Calcium, 2 mg (10%) Iron, 322 mg (6%) Potassium
© 2025 RECIPES MADE HEALTHY BY DARLENE ZIMMERMAN, MS, RD LLC
