Improved Imo’s Salad

Imo’s salad is a staple to order with your Imo’s pizza, that pizza on a cracker (as my 2 year old point out one day) that is topped with provel cheese. The salad seems to be lacking though. “Lettuce topped with Provel cheese.” That’s it! Lettuce & cheese! It costs $5.95 for this simplistic combination, so I took it upon myself craft an improved salad which remains simple. Enjoy!

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Why I Love This Recipe?

I am not a big fan of salads. Many salads are just a good way to eat salad dressing. Iceberg lettuce is an insult to lettuce varieties… I digress. I love this salad because it tweaks the Imo’s salad recipe just a little, and becomes a much more satisfying addition to a meal. Also, the cost savings here are off the chart compared to buying it from Imo’s.

How Much is An Imo’s Salad?

A large Imo’s salad, at the time of writing, is $6.00. That is lettuce, Provel cheese, and dressing. That portion will feed 4 adults a small/medium salad before you dig into the pizza. Don’t get me wrong, it’s quite a bit cheaper than buying another pizza, and Saint Louis style pizza is not all that filling. The salad does it’s part, but let’s compare to homemade.

• Dole Spinach: $2.14
• Romaine Lettuce (1 Head): $2.25
• 10 oz Matchstick Carrots: $2.39
• 8 oz Shredded Mozzarella Cheese: $2.75
• Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing: $3.50
• Total: $13.03

Now, above is the ingredient list for our salad. As you can see, the initial cost is higher, until you see the size of the salad we are going to make. This is a family-style salad which allows at least 10 people to eat big salads. That allows this recipe to be slightly more cost effective as compared to the simple Imo’s Salad, and WAY healthier!

Is Imo’s Salad Healthy?

The nutrition of the lettuce and cheese salad is unfortunately mostly water and fat. Leaf lettuce has some Vitamin A, but that is about it. Compare that to our “Improved Imo’s Salad” and the addition of Romaine, spinach, and carrots really amps up the value of this meal. Vitamin A, C, K, Iron, and a whole host of minerals are supplied via this nutritious salad. Basically, its no longer a waste of time!

Ingredients & Equipment

Ingredients

• Romaine Lettuce: Big, bulky, and crunchy; this lettuce is my go-to for salads. The nutrition is considerably better than iceberg lettuce, and the thick leaf ribs give the leaves an almost literal backbone to chew on.
• Spinach: Spinach adds a nutritional punch to the salad, and gives a bit of texture variance while chewing.
• Carrots: Matchstick carrots are easy to add to any salad for a classic taste, but the nutrition of carrots and the texture while chewing make for a very nice addition.
• Mozzarella: Adding cheese to a salad is a good way to add fullness to what is a plate of leaves otherwise. The fat and protein add calories, which are needed to stay full longer, and make a meal of the thin crust pizza.
• Dressing: Ranch is the go to dressing in our house, but the classic Imo’s dressing is a sweet Italian. It’s delicious and I suggest trying it if you can find it.

Equipment

• Salad Spinner: This is by no means necessary, but it is one of my favorite kitchen gadgets that we have. Great for rinsing the lettuce and then preventing a soggy salad, it’ll hold the whole head of romaine once chopped up.
• Chef’s Knife: Something big and sharp to chop up the head of romaine, I can’t recommend one of these enough.
• Cutting Board: A safe place to chop your lettuce. Use these to save both your knife and countertop.
• Big Salad Bowl: It’s going to be a big salad, you’re going to need a big bowl.

Preparation

Preparing the food

The improved Imo’s Salad is designed to come together in minutes using whole items rather than leaving you with half bags of ingredients.

1. Chop the Romaine lettuce and rinse it, or vice versa. I like to chop it first and then toss it all in the salad spinner for rinsing and drying.
2. Skip washing the spinach by buying pre-washed. Saves time and energy.
3. Combine the lettuce, spinach, cheese, and carrots in a BIG bowl. Toss and serve.

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That’s it! Enjoy your simple but tasty salad! Try Imo’s Sweet Italian Dressing if you want the real St. Louis experience. (Warning, it’s quite sweet…)

Tips!

1. To extend the salads shelf life, avoid tossing the cheese and dressing with the entire salad, and instead add it to the individual portions. This step will give you a tasty salad for up to 5 days, which is unheard of for salads. Skip this for big events where it will definitely be eaten.
2. Buy pre-washed spinach to avoid washing spinach as well.

Frequently Asked Questions

It’s a salad, but I shall add these soon!

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