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Teeny-tiny, chopped vegetables dressed in lemon juice, olive oil and cracked black pepper, finished with homemade, bite-sized <a href="https://www.mob.co.uk/recipes/ciabatta">ciabatta</a> croutons and drizzled with a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. Carrot cubes teamed with diced apple, pomegranate seeds, <a href="https://www.mob.co.uk/recipes/harissa-bulgur-wheat-traybake" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bulgur wheat</a> and fresh mint leaves. Baby cucumber batons paired with shredded gem lettuce, eensy-weensy tomato slices, edamame beans and avocado pieces. I could go on reciting the types of salads formulated of mostly microscopic cuttings of our favourite <a href="https://www.mob.co.uk/recipes/collections/mobs-best-and-brightest-salad-recipes" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">salad</a> ingredients. It’s a thing. We love anything remotely miniature. But, why are we so obsessed, and how on earth does a TikTok account dedicated to making salads have 2.6million followers? Here’s my take. 
It started around 3 years ago, where — for the most part — we spent the majority of the spare time we were suddenly burdened with, scrolling mindlessly through social channels like Instagram, TikTok and Twitter, senselessly waiting for something to stop us and instinctively satisfy our need for 30 seconds of amusement. Behold, a parade of puny salad bowls made by (at the time) pretty uninfluential influencers, shot through close-up, overhead camera work with a distinct focus on catching the creator's endeavour to chop as finely as possible. Moments later, and we watched rerun after rerun of the same Mediterranean-esque salad appear on our explore pages. To this day, we’re still seeing major publications bring out their own takes. And, believe it or not, a good percentage of us are still just as obsessed. So, I did some digging. 
According to Jeff Gordinier, Food &amp; Drink Writer for Esquire, “Chopping intensifies the pleasure of a salad.” (Bloomberg, “<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-11/salad-leaders-weigh-in-on-chopped-versus-not-chopped-controversy">Salad Leaders Weigh In on Chopped Versus Not-Chopped Controversy</a>”). “No unwieldy fronds of greens flicking vinegar into your face. A knife converts salad into subway food” he tells Bloomberg. And he’s quite right. For many of us, a salad is our go-to office lunch, or preferable meal type for when we need to grab-and-go. Which means every biteful needs a well-distributed, neat parcel of ingredients. The solution? Dicing everything as evenly as possible, into tinsy-winsy pieces.

It’s not just the practicality of chopped salads that make them attractive, either. There’s something intrinsically appealing about being faced with a bowl of similarly-sized, studs of rainbow ingredients that you’re able to scoop up into one satisfying bite. 
The origin of this species of salad? The Mediterranean. Think Shirazi, <a href="https://www.mob.co.uk/recipes/halloumi-tabbouleh" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tabbouleh</a> and Fattoush. Each featuring chopped, fresh ingredients bundled together to create something bright and naturally delicious. And why have we seen a surge in this type of salad making? Two reasons: 1) it’s accessible 2) it’s healthy. This spike in salads come as part of a wider trend for consumers seeking out healthier lifestyles. As well as us Brits being very easily pleased.

Chopped Salads

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A Brief Investigation Into Chopped Salads

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Fascinated by chopped salads? Us, too. So much so we wanted to dig a little deeper in why something as simple as bite-sized chunks of veg satisfy us so much.

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