Description
A vibrant and fresh Vegetarian Italian Chopped Salad featuring crisp romaine, radicchio, peppers, chickpeas, and optional provolone cheese, all tossed in a zesty homemade Italian vinaigrette. Perfect as a side dish to complement any meal or as a light and flavorful appetizer.
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, for heat (optional)
Instructions
- Prepare the vegetables: Chop the romaine lettuce, radicchio, red onion, and celery into bite-sized pieces. Thinly slice the cherry tomatoes, pepperoncini peppers, and roughly chop the sun-dried tomatoes. Rinse and drain the chickpeas if using canned.
- Make the Italian vinaigrette: In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the extra-virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, dried oregano, honey, minced garlic, freshly ground black pepper, salt, and red pepper flakes until fully combined and emulsified.
- Assemble the salad: In a large mixing bowl, combine the chopped romaine, radicchio, red onion, celery, cherry tomatoes, pepperoncini, sun-dried tomatoes, and chickpeas. If using, add the provolone cheese cubes.
- Toss the salad: Pour the Italian vinaigrette over the salad ingredients, and toss gently but thoroughly to ensure all components are evenly coated with dressing.
- Serve: Transfer the salad to a serving bowl or individual plates and serve immediately as a refreshing side dish or appetizer.
Notes
- Recipe inspired by the chopped salad at 1889 Pizza and references from Smitten Kitchen and The Kitchn.
- Make it dairy free or vegan by omitting the provolone cheese and substituting maple syrup for honey in the dressing.
- To save time, use pre-chopped romaine and radicchio mix and chop into bite-sized pieces.
- Radicchio adds a unique bitterness and color; if unavailable or unwanted, it can be omitted or replaced with extra romaine.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 180 kcal
- Sugar: 4 g
- Sodium: 350 mg
- Fat: 12 g
- Saturated Fat: 3 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 9 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 15 g
- Fiber: 5 g
- Protein: 6 g
- Cholesterol: 10 mg
