This Tossed Greens with Tomatoes, Cucumber, and Onion Salad Bar is about as easy as you get. For my Easy Italian Dinner Party, that is exactly what is needed. The most time consuming part is chopping up the veggies. Given my druthers, I would proactively mix all the “toppings” straight into the salad and call it a day. However, my other half doesn’t like cucumbers, my mom doesn’t like onions, not everyone wants cheese. Everyone likes different salad dressing. So salad bar it is.
Getting Started with Making a Salad Bar of Tossed Greens with Tomatoes, Cucumber, and Onion
I did no prep for this the night before.
You can either prep everything 1 -2 hours prior to dinner or immediately before. If you’re getting this easy salad bar ready in advance, plan to cover your bowls with saran wrap and stash them in the fridge. If space is an issue in the fridge, go ahead and set out your bowls and just leave them empty and put the ingredients in zip top bags, which you can then just dump into your waiting bowls right before dinner time. My recommendation is always to get everything ready so that you have one less thing to deal with once guests start walking in the door.
Getting Your Ingredients Ready
First up for your salad bar, roughly chop your spinach, romaine, and iceberg. You may not need to do this with the salad mix of romaine and iceberg, but just double check. As with my previous Lori Soap Box Note on bite size things, I like my salad and, in this case, my guests’ salads be “neat”. They should be able to spear a discrete bite on their fork without having to do their own cutting or trying to fit a giant bite in their mouths.
Place your lettuce in a large bowl with either salad tongs or a salad fork and spoon for serving.
Chop your onion and cucumber and place into separate bowls with a large tablespoon size spoon.
Lori Soap Box Note: Make sure the size of your serving spoon is big enough for guests to be able to pick up a spoonful of topping to sprinkle onto their salad. They should not have to get one tiny cube of cucumber or onion at a time. As the corollary, make sure to chop your toppings small enough to be picked up with a serving spoon.
Place your shredded cheese in a “wide enough” bowl with a large, relatively flat spoon for serving. I’d suggest not using tongs, because they often cause cheese clumping and random cheese droppage between serving bowl and salad plate.
Cut your grape tomatoes in half. I like to cut them on a bias because I think they look fancier and I think they are easier to spear with a fork that way. Place those in another “wide enough” bowl with either a large spoon or mini tongs.
For the dressings, I would suggest small carafes or gravy boats with small ladles for serving. If it’s an informal group and gathering, I would say to just set out the bottles themselves. What is “appropriate” depends on you, the type of party you’re having, and the guests you’ve invited, so judge whatever works best.
Setting Up Your Salad Bar
About 10 minutes before dinner time, set out your salad bar, placing the large bowl of lettuce first. Then the tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions in any order but grouped closely together. Then the dressings, followed by the cheese at the end for topping.
Also, don’t forget about plates. In cases such as this, the intent was to place the salad directly onto the dinner plate. If you are using separate salad plates, set them and the associated forks out before the bowl of lettuce.
That’s it! Your easy Tossed Greens with Tomatoes, Cucumber, and Onion Salad Bar is ready to go.
Tossed Greens with Tomatoes, Cucumber, and Onion Salad Bar
Ingredients
- 10 ounces Baby Spinach 2 (5 ounce) bags
- 11 ounces Iceberg and Romaine Lettuce Mix 1 (11 ounce) bag
- 1 White Onion Chopped. Or Spanish Onion
- 1 English Cucumber Chopped
- 1 pint Grape Tomatoes Cut in half
- 8 ounces Colby Jack Cheese Shredded. Half of a 16-ounce bag.
- 1.25 cups Italian Dressing Or another dressing such as Ranch or Bacon Ranch.
Instructions
- Roughly chop 10 ounces Baby Spinach.10 ounces Baby Spinach
- In a large serving bowl, toss spinach and 11 ounces Iceberg and Romaine Lettuce Mix together and combine. Set out with salad tongs or a salad fork and spoon set.11 ounces Iceberg and Romaine Lettuce Mix, 10 ounces Baby Spinach
- Chop 1 White Onion and 1 English Cucumber and place in separate bowls with tablespoon size spoons.1 White Onion, 1 English Cucumber
- Slice 1 pint Grape Tomatoes in half and place in a bowl with small tongs.1 pint Grape Tomatoes
- Place the 8 ounces Colby Jack Cheese in a bowl with a tablespoon size spoon.8 ounces Colby Jack Cheese
- Arrange lettuce and the add-ons in a “salad bar” layout with the lettuce first, veggies next, then cheese, and 1.25 cups Italian Dressing at the end.1.25 cups Italian Dressing
Equipment
- Large Bowl for Mixing and Serving
- 4 Small Bowls for serving the mix-ins
- Salad Tongs
- 3 Large Tablespoon-sized Serving Spoons for the onion, cucumber, and grape tomatoes
- 1 Flat Serving Spoon for the shredded cheese
