Description
This vegetarian Italian chopped salad is loaded with crisp romaine lettuce, colorful radicchio, chickpeas, red onion, black olives, savory sun-dried tomatoes, juicy Roma tomatoes, tangy pepperoncini, fresh basil, shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano, and tossed in a homemade red wine vinaigrette. It’s so fresh and full of flavor!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 2 small heads romaine lettuce, finely chopped (or 1 iceberg lettuce)
- 1/2 small head of radicchio, finely chopped (about 1 heaping cup)
- 1 15-oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or 1.5 cups cooked chickpeas)
- 1/4 cup red onion, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup chopped black olives (I use kalamata olives)
- 1/4 cup chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes (drained)
- 2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
- 5-6 pepperoncini, sliced
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
- 1/2 cup shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano
- Red wine vinaigrette (recipe below)
Red Wine Vinaigrette
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons honey (or maple syrup)
- 1 small garlic clove, finely minced
- Fine sea salt and black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Make the dressing. In a jar with a fitted lid, add extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, dried oregano, garlic, a generous pinch of salt, and several grinds of freshly ground black pepper to taste. Seal the jar and give it a good shake until the dressing ingredients are well combined. Don’t have a jar? Simply whisk all the ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Assemble the salad. In a large bowl, add the romaine lettuce, radicchio, chickpeas, red onion, black olives, sun-dried tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, pepperoncini, and fresh basil.
- Drizzle the prepared dressing on top of the salad and toss gently to combine. Sprinkle the shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano on top and serve immediately.
Notes
- TIP: The key to a chopped salad is to chop all the ingredients into small pieces. This allows you to get a little of everything in every bite. You want to make sure everything is chopped similar in size so it’s easy to eat.
- Make it vegan: Use diced avocado instead of parmesan cheese and maple syrup instead of honey.
- Other veggies that would be nice in this salad include diced cucumber, chopped bell pepper, marinated artichoke hearts, roasted red bell pepper, or chopped celery.
- Nutrition information is a rough estimate based on 6 servings.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Category: Salad
- Method: Chopped
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bowl
- Calories: 250
- Sugar: 8.5g
- Sodium: 240mg
- Fat: 13.7g
- Saturated Fat: 2.8g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7.8g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 25.5g
- Fiber: 8.7g
- Protein: 9.5g
- Cholesterol: 7mg