Description
A vibrant Vegetarian Italian Chopped Salad featuring crisp romaine, slightly bitter radicchio, cherry tomatoes, chickpeas, and optional provolone cheese, all tossed in a tangy Italian vinaigrette with a hint of heat from red pepper flakes. Perfect as a refreshing side or light main.
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: Wash and chop the romaine lettuce, radicchio, red onion, celery, and slice the cherry tomatoes and pepperoncini peppers. Rinse and roughly chop the oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes.
- Drain chickpeas: Rinse the canned chickpeas thoroughly under cold water and drain well to remove excess liquid.
- Make the vinaigrette: In a small bowl or jar, combine the extra-virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, dried oregano, honey, minced garlic, freshly ground black pepper, salt, and red pepper flakes if using. Whisk or shake until the dressing is well emulsified.
- Combine salad ingredients: In a large bowl, add the chopped romaine, radicchio, red onion, celery, cherry tomatoes, pepperoncini peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, chickpeas, and provolone cheese if using.
- Toss the salad: Pour the Italian vinaigrette over the salad ingredients and toss gently but thoroughly to coat all the components evenly with the dressing.
- Serve: Let the salad sit for a few minutes to allow flavors to meld before serving as a side dish or a light main course.
Notes
- Make it dairy free/vegan: Omit the provolone cheese. For a vegan dressing, substitute maple syrup for the honey in the vinaigrette.
- For a quicker prep, buy pre-chopped romaine and radicchio mix and chop into smaller pieces as desired.
- Radicchio adds a bitter note but can be skipped if unavailable or not preferred; consider using the whole head if you really like its flavor.
- Adjust salt and pepper to taste after tossing the salad.
- The salad can be made ahead, but adding the cheese last-minute preserves its texture and flavor best.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 220 kcal
- Sugar: 4 g
- Sodium: 300 mg
- Fat: 15 g
- Saturated Fat: 3 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 11 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 18 g
- Fiber: 6 g
- Protein: 7 g
- Cholesterol: 10 mg
