Place: Cowboy Ciao Restaurant, Scottsdale, Arizona

I love trying different food. And I am always excited when a chef comes up with a unique combination that I would never EVER think to do. So here is my attempt to recreate the Stetson Chopped Salad from Cowboy Ciao Restaurant. 

Stetson Chopped Salad

Salad Ingredients:

1/2 cup Israeli (pearl) couscous, cooked
1/2 cup Roma tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup super-sweet dried corn 
1/2 cup arugula, chopped
2 ounces smoked salmon, diced
2 ounces asiago cheese, crumbled 
1/4 cup toasted pepitas  (a.k.a. Mexican pumpkin seeds)
1/4 cup dried black currants

Pesto dressing (Recipe below.)

Salad Preparation and Presentation

In the restaurant, the waiter comes out with all the ingredients being in rows on a platter. The server then pours the dressing over the top and tosses it tableside.

So with that said, prepare all the individual ingredients and then prepare to display in rows.

Dry out corn kernels before putting in oven

Ingredient Tips

• Combine the asiago cheese, pepitas and currants and use as one row.
• If pearl couscous is unavailable, substitute a tiny pasta like ditalini or acini di pepe.
• Supposedly, sweet dried corn is available at natural food markets, but I live in Southern California and I wasn’t even able to find it. So for a substitute, use canned sweet corn kernels packed in water. Drain well and remove as much water as possible. Preheat oven to 500 Degrees. Spread corn kernels out on tray and place in oven for 20 minutes. Check on the kernels once during 20 minutes. You want them to be as crisp as possible.

Assemble the ingredients in rows. Start with tomatoes or arugula at one end; push previous row back with one hand as you place and line up the next ingredient with the other hand.

Key Ingredients for Delicious Salad Dressing

Pesto Dressing :

1/2 cup basil pesto
1 cup mayonnaise
1 shallot, roughly chopped
1 cup buttermilk
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 teaspoon coarse black pepper
Salt to taste

Add first three ingredients to food processor and blend thoroughly. With motor running, pour in buttermilk. Add remaining ingredients to combine. If using prepared pesto (you can find it in the refrigerated section by cheeses), taste before adding additional salt. Store in refrigerator.

Enjoy!