Vegetarian Italian Chopped Salad – truly the best Italian chopped salad recipe, with chopped fresh greens and veggies in a simple Italian vinaigrette. This salad is vegetarian and easily vegan. Recipe yields 6 to 8 side servings or 3 to 4 meal-sized servings (a lot). If you store the salad separately from the vinaigrette, it will keep well for up to 4 days.
- 10 Ounces Lettuce Chopped
- 1/2 Medium Head of Radicchio* Finely Chopped (about 2 Cups)
- 1/2 Medium Red Onion Chopped (about 1 Cup)
- 2 Ribs Celery Chopped
- 1 Pint Cherry Tomatoes Thinly Sliced
- 1/3 Cup Pickled Pepperoncini Peppers Stemmed and thinly sliced
- 1/3 Cup Oil-Packed Sun-Dried Tomatoes Rinsed and Roughly Chopped
- 1 Can Chickpeas Rinsed and Drained (About 15 Ounces)
- 1 Cup Cheese Optional
- 1/3 Cup EKiN Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1/3 Cup vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon Mustard
- 1 Teaspoon Honey
- 2 Cloves garlic Pressed and Minced
- 2 Teaspoons Dried Oregano
- 10 Twists Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 1/4 Teaspoon salt
- Pinch Red Pepper Flakes For Heat (Optional)
- In a large serving bowl, combine the chopped lettuce, radicchio, onion, celery, cherry tomatoes, peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, chickpeas and cheese (if using). Toss the ingredients together and set aside.
- To prepare the dressing, combine all of the ingredients in a liquid measuring cup. Whisk until blended. Taste, and add more salt if the dressing doesn't knock your socks off (I usually add one to two more pinches of salt).
- If you'll be serving all of the salad at once, go ahead and drizzle enough dressing in to lightly coat the salad and toss to combine. I prefer to store the salad and dressing separately so I can enjoy salad for a few days. Just whisk the dressing again before drizzling (if the olive oil solidifies a bit in the refrigerator, don't worry, that's normal—just let it warm up for about 5 minutes at room temperature or microwave for 10 to 20 seconds).
MAKE IT DAIRY FREE/VEGAN: Omit the cheese! It's still great without it.
*ROMAINE AND RADICCHIO NOTES: If you want to make this salad in a hurry, just buy two bags of chopped romaine/radicchio mix, and chop it into even smaller, bite-sized pieces. Radicchio is very bitter and can be hard to find, but I thought it added something special to this salad. If you hate it/can't find it, skip it. If you adore it, feel free to use the whole head.
