Italian Chopped Salad
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For the Salad:
- 4 cups romaine lettuce
- 2 cups iceberg lettuce
- 1 cup raddichio lettuce
- 1 cup yellow bell pepper
- 1 cup Persian cucumber
- 1 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 cup celery stalk
- 1/2 cup red onion
- 1 can chickpeas
- 1 cup pitted kalamata olives
- 1/2 cup pepperoccini
- 1 cup Provolone cheese
- 1 cup salami
For the Pepperoccini Vinaigrette:
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 small shallot, minced
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh Italian parsley leaves, chopped
- 1/3 cup brine from pickled pepperoccini jar
- juice from one lemon
- 1 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- generous pinch of salt and pepper
Instructions
To assemble the salad:
- drain the chickpeas and rinse in water, set aside in a strainer to drain fully
- Wash and dry the romaine and iceberg lettuce well and chop
- Wash and dry the raddiccio and slice into thin ribbons
- Chop the bell pepper, cucumber and celery into small, equally sized cubes and quarter the cherry tomatoes
- Dice the red onion, kalamata olives and pepperoccini, discarding the seeds and stem and slice the Provolone and salami into bite-sized cubes
- Assemble the salad by placing a bed of the lettuce on the bottom of a large bowl, followed by the chopped vegetables, each in a pile around the perimeter of the bowl. Top with the salami and provolone and place in the refrigerator to chill until ready to eat
For the vinaigrette:
- In a glass jar with a tightly fitting lid, add the garlic, shallot, mustard, dill, parsley, pepperoccini brine, lemon juice, pinch of salt and pepper and 1 cup of the olive oil. Secure the lid and shake vigorously. Taste and if is too acidic, add more of the olive oil and adjust the salt. Shake again and keep at room temperature until ready to use. Pour the vinaigrette (to taste) over the salad, toss gently and serve