Italian Chopped Salad

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This Italian Chopped Salad is a quintessential chopped salad that's loaded with flavor and a delicious combo of ingredients. It's great to serve with any Italian dish, grilled chicken or salmon, yet filling enough to be a meal on its own. Perfect for warm summer nights, backyard barbecues and potlucks.

Ingredients

• Half of a small red onion, halved through the core
• 1 large head romaine lettuce
• 1 medium head radicchio
• 1 pint small sweet cherry tomatoes, halved through the stem ends
• 1 large cucumber, peeled and seeded then cut in half and sliced
• 1-1/2 cups canned garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese (or 4 ounces aged provolone, sliced into strips)
• 5 peperoncini, stems cut off and discarded, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup kalamata olives
• 1/2 cup Oregano Vinaigrette
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• Dired oregano, for sprinkling
• 2-1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1-1/2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, plus more to taste
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1-1/2 tablespoons minced kalamata olives
• 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
• 1-1/2 cups good extra-virgin olive oil 

Instructions

1. Slice the layers of onions lengthwise 1/16 inch thick. Place the onion slices in a small bowl of ice water and set aside.
2. Drain the onion and pat dry with paper towels before adding them to the salad.
3. Thinly slice the lettuce and radicchio.
4. In a large bowl, combine the lettuce, radicchio, tomatoes,cucumber, garbanzo beans, cheese, ,peperoncini, and onion slices.
5. Toss to thoroughly combine the ingredients.
6. Drizzle 1/2 cup of the vinaigrette and the juice of the lemon over the salad, then toss gently to coat the salad with the dressing.
7. Taste for seasoning and add more lemon juice, or vinaigrette if desired.
8. Sprinkle with extra oregano and serve.

ITALIAN SALAD DRESSING

1. Combine the vinegar, oregano, lemon juice, garlic, kalamata olives, Parmesan cheese, and pepper in a medium bowl and whisk to combine the ingredients.
2. Set aside for 5 minutes to marinate the oregano and basil.
3. Add the olive oil in a slow thin stream, whisking constantly to combine. You can also add all the ingredients to a glass jar with a lid and shake to combine.

This article adapted from this site

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