Italian Chopped Salad

 

One of my longtime clients asked me to make an Italian Chopped Salad for an afternoon event.  I just went to the grocery store and bought what I thought would be good and threw it together.  I ended up loving what I created so quickly wrote the ingredients on my phone and took a picture so I could remember what I did.  And that was the recipe that I forwarded to everyone for the last couple of years and then realized it was a bit frustrating to receive because it didn't have any measurements.   Here is a photo from my phone notes with "quarterback" for what I meant to write as quartered artichoke hearts.

Notes from my phone so I could remember what I did - Scroll down to the actual recipe with measurements below

So last week I finally measured the ingredients so that I could share them with all of you.  But remember you can add more of an ingredient you like or change this recipe up to suit your preferences.  In general it is a cup of each ingredient except for the garbanzo beans because the can has a cup and a half in it.  Also the pepperoncini's are only half a cup.  One other note that I will also like below.  I love vinegar so tend to make my dressings on the tart side.  If you prefer more olive oil that add more to your taste.

                        

 

                       

                   

When I was making the recipe this time the store didn't have the little mozzarella balls so I just bought another one of my favorite mozzarellas and cut it up into little square chunks.  As you can see it is basically a cup of everything except for the Garbanzo Beans and Pepperoncinis.

Italian Chopped Salad

Note: Whenever I add tomatoes to a salad I season them with olive oil and Kosher salt 30 minutes to an hour before adding them to the salad.  This improves the flavor enormously.  (See my Orzo Arugula Salad and my Heirloom Tomato Salad

Serves 8-10

1 cup (about 20 slices or four ounces) of peppered salami, sliced into thin strips

1 1/2 cups (a 15.5 ounce can) of garbanzo beans, drained and chopped (or leave whole if you prefer)

1/2 cup pepperoncinis, sliced thin

1 cup quarter baby Artichoke hearts

1 cup baby grape tomatoes, sliced in half and sprinkled with kosher salt and drizzled with olive oil

1 cup (8 ounces) baby mozzarella balls, cut in half or your favorite mozzarella cut into small chunks

1 bunch Italian Flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked from stems and roughly chopped

2 heads baby romaine, cut into strips

DRESSING

Note:  I like my dressing tart so use 1/2 vinegar and 1/2 olive oil.  You may prefer it with more olive oil.  Adjust to your preference.  Also, I put all of this in a jar and shake it well to combine.  You can make the dressing up to five days in advance if you wish.  

Makes 1 cup

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon minced shallot

1 clove garlic minced (about 1 teaspoon of minced garlic)

2 teaspoons Kosher Salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1/2 cup olive oil (Add more if you don't like your dressing as tart as I do.)

Make the dressing before you make all the ingredients for the salad so it has time for the flavors to combine.  I put everything in a pint size canning jar and shake it.  If you don't have a canning jar then maybe use any container you have with a lid to shake the dressing.  If you don't have one then just stir it together, but shaking does work best.

Have all of your ingredients in separate piles on a cutting board or in separate sections in a bowl.  Cut the lettuce last.  

Just before serving add the salad dressing and toss all the ingredients so they are completely combined.  

Rob made my salad last night because we had leftover dressing and he made it without chopping the garbanzo beans.  Which points to how flexible this salad is!  You can do whatever you want!