Description
This salad is LARGE! You will need a big mixing bowl when assembling. I think it can serves 6 as a main course or up to 12 as a side. You can scale it down but I think it keeps fairly well and like to have left overs for lunch.
Ingredients
The Salad
- 1/2 small head iceberg lettuce, washed, cored, and cut into bite-size strips
- 1 small head radicchio, washed, cored, and cut into ribbons
- 1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 4 oz can sliced black olives
- 1 6 oz jar marinated artichoke hearts, roughly chopped
- 5–10 peperoncinis, sliced into rings
- 1/2 lb salami, sliced into narrow strips (about 1/4″ wide)*
- 1/2 lb smoked mozzarella, sliced into narrow strips (about 1/4″ wide)*
- 10 oz cherry tomatoes, washed and halved and sprinkled with salt
- 1 small red onion, peeled, halved and sliced paper thin*
- 10 to 15 basil leaves, cut into strips
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped (optional)
- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano (optional)
The Vinaigrette
- 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1–2 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped
- 1–2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped (approx 5 to 10 leaves)
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar*
- 1/3 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp red pepper
Instructions
Vinaigrette
- Combine the garlic, herbs, and vinegar in a small bowl
- Blitz the mixture with an immersion blender until pureed. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use of food processor.
- Add the lemon juice, salt, black pepper, and red pepper. Stir to combine.
- Slowly whisk in olive oil. Set aside.
Salad
- Combine the salami, cheese, red onion, chickpeas, and fresh herbs in a large bowl. Pour dressing over ingredients and toss to combine.
- Once ingredients are well mixed and coated add the artichoke hearts, olives, peperoncinis, and tomatoes.
- Lastly, slowly mix in the lettuce and radicchio.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
I used sliced Genoa salami from the deli to keep things easy and because I like the longer strips you can achieve. You can also use hard salami. Just peel it, slice it thin, and then cut into 1/4″ wide ribbons.
You can find really good smoked mozzarella at Whole Foods and other high end grocery stores and specialty shops. You can use provolone as a substitute.
I find I can slice red onion extremely thin with a good serrated knife. You can also use a mandolin for the job if you prefer.
While I have a MASSIVE collection of vinegars, I’ve been out of red wine vinegar for several years now. I realized by accident that ACV is a good substitute and now I prefer it. Maybe someday I will come across a recipe where the swap doesn’t work but it hasn’t happened yet.