Big Italian Salad
Course: DinnerCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy8
servings20
minutesI love this salad. It is so good for bbq’s or when you have to feed lots of people. The flavors and textures and so good. It is a family favorite and goes so well with any meat of the grill. I am a huge salad fan so you could even make this and add some shrimp either the little pink one or grilled shrimp or chicken for a lighter meal. I tend to make this to go with tri tip, chicken, pork and then grilled vegetables. I have shared this recipe often. Every magazine has a version but this is my tweaked version and as far as a dressing I like to keep it very simple because the salad has so much going on, just salt and fresh ground pepper with a favorite vinegar usually red wine vinegar then a good extra virgin olive oil. I finish it off with coarse finishing salt.
Ingredients
1 can chickpeas, rinsed, drained and patted dry
1 bag Romaine lettuce
1 lg head of Racchio or 2 small/medium- cut in half, cored and rinsed, dried
1 lg fennel bulb, trimmed and sliced
1 yellow pepper, chopped
1/2 English cucumber, sliced thinly
1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
2/3 cup pitted green olives, sliced thinly
1/2 cup red onion
1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped basil, reserve some leaves for garnish
1 small lemon
1/2 cup Fontina cheese
Directions
- In a large serving bowl, add the romaine, radicchio, chickpeas, fennel, bell pepper, cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, olives, parsley, and basil.
- Add the cheese and drizzle with the lemon.
- Season with salt and fresh ground pepper. Drizzle with your favorite vinegar and then add the olive oil and toss well to make sure the dressing is evenly dispersed.
- Garnish with more the basil leaves and more cheese.
