Description
A vibrant and hearty Vegetarian Italian Chopped Salad featuring crisp romaine and radicchio, tangy pepperoncini, sun-dried tomatoes, chickpeas, and optional provolone cheese, all tossed in a flavorful Italian vinaigrette. Perfect as a refreshing side dish or light main course.
Ingredients
Scale
Salad:
- 10 ounces chopped romaine lettuce (about 2 medium or 3 small heads, chopped)
- ½ medium head of radicchio, finely chopped (about 2 cups)
- ½ medium red onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
- 2 ribs celery, chopped
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced
- ⅓ cup stemmed and thinly sliced pickled pepperoncini peppers
- ⅓ cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed and roughly chopped
- 1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas, rinsed and drained, or 1 ½ cups cooked chickpeas
- 1 cup (4 ounces) ¼″ cubes of provolone cheese (optional)
Italian Vinaigrette:
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ⅓ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 10 twists freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon salt, more to taste
- Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
Instructions
- Prepare the salad ingredients: Chop the romaine lettuce, finely chop the radicchio, chop the red onion and celery, and thinly slice the cherry tomatoes and pepperoncini peppers. Rinse and roughly chop the oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes. Rinse and drain the chickpeas if using canned.
- Make the Italian vinaigrette: In a bowl, whisk together the extra-virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, dried oregano, honey, pressed garlic, freshly ground black pepper, salt, and optional red pepper flakes until well combined and emulsified.
- Toss the salad: In a large mixing bowl, combine the romaine, radicchio, red onion, celery, cherry tomatoes, pepperoncini peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, and chickpeas. Pour the Italian vinaigrette over the salad and toss thoroughly to coat all ingredients evenly.
- Add cheese and serve: If using, gently fold in the provolone cheese cubes just before serving. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Serve the salad fresh as a vibrant side or light main dish.
Notes
- To make this salad dairy free or vegan, omit the provolone cheese and substitute maple syrup for honey in the dressing.
- If short on time, use pre-chopped romaine and radicchio salad mix and chop into smaller pieces.
- Radicchio adds a beautiful bitterness; if unavailable or disliked, you may omit it entirely or substitute with more romaine.
- Use fresh garlic and good-quality extra-virgin olive oil for best flavor.
- Allow the salad to rest briefly after tossing to let flavors meld, but serve fresh to preserve crispness.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 220 kcal
- Sugar: 5 g
- Sodium: 320 mg
- Fat: 12 g
- Saturated Fat: 3 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 8 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 22 g
- Fiber: 6 g
- Protein: 8 g
- Cholesterol: 15 mg
