Chopped Salad with Citrus-Cumin Dressing

To make the dressing, on a cutting board, mince and mash the garlic with 1/4 tsp. salt to form a paste, then transfer to a small bowl. Add the lime juice, orange juice, shallot, honey and cumin to the garlic-salt paste, then whisk together until well mixed. Slowly add the olive oil in a thin stream while whisking constantly until emulsified. Season with pepper, then taste and adjust the seasoning with more salt and honey if needed. Set the dressing aside.

To make the salad, bring a pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add the corn and boil for 5 minutes. The kernels should be crisp-tender. Using tongs, transfer the ears to a cutting board and let cool until they can be handled. One at a time, lay the cooled ears flat on the board and, using a large knife, slice the kernels off the first side, then rotate the ear cut side down and cut off the kernels from the next side. Repeat until all the kernels are removed.

Put the romaine into a large serving bowl or a shallow platter. You will now arrange the remaining ingredients in rows on top of the romaine for the beautiful—and charming—presentation. The first row is the Parmesan cheese, followed by the green onions, corn kernels, avocados, radishes, cilantro and finally the chickpeas. Your rows are now complete.

Just before serving, give the dressing a quick whisk and pour it over the top. Serves 6.

Eden’s Tip: Eden loves the presentation of this salad on the table, but once she serves it, she likes to toss all the ingredients with the dressing. You can swap out the crunchy chickpeas for toasted almonds or even for Doritos or other tortilla chips. Anything that adds a little crunch will work.

Adapted from Entertaining with Charm by Eden Passante (Weldon Owen, 2024)