A Novelty Way To Eat Your Greens – Sexy Salads

I think it's fair to say that over the last few years salads have transformed from something lame that we used to eat as a punishment into something exciting, fresh and delicious. Things have advanced leaps and bounds from the limp Caesar salad that used to be the token salad option on menus, thanks to the likes of chefs like Ottolenghi and Jamie Oliver who are making salads mouthwatering, imaginative creations. Even still, despite the many delicious salad options now available in the city, sometimes you just want to make your own.

Chopped has been around for a long time and at this point has a very loyal customer base, yet due to it's locations on Baggot's Street and Ballsbridge it's a place that many people still haven't explored. I popped in last week for the first time and instantly knew I'd like it. The salad bar is filled with so many different choices of vegetables, proteins like chicken, eggs, fish etc, nuts, seeds and dressings. I went for honey chicken, broccoli, pepper, avocado, cucumber, rocket and spinach with balsamic vinegar. It was so delicious.

If the name 'Chopped' isn't already a give away, they chop it all up using huge mezzaluna knives. This was a bit of a novelty to me, they are so bloody fast when they chop them up! I liked that because there's nothing worse than having a salad consisting of a giant lump of chicken laying on top of some dry spinach over a huge chunk of red onion and a glob of sauce running down the side. The whole thing was really tasty, and you get a bit of everything in each bite. It's such an easy way to get in the majority of your 5-a-day.

Chopped do a whole range of fresh juices as well, so I grabbed a Lean Green one for extra health-kick brownie points. The juices are those Erika Doolan ones that a lot of places seem to be selling these days. It was such an easy, healthy lunch and came to just under €9. I spotted a soup corner on the way out where you can add on a container of soup to your meal for just €2 or €3, which will be really handy in winter when people want something extra to warm them up.

If you're not already a loyal fan of Chopped you need to get down there ASAP, especially if you're on a health kick!