Italian Chopped Salad

These winter months can be brutal – especially when the snow just won’t seem to let up! A lot of the time I find food can take me to another place. This salad reminds me so much of summer with it’s sweet heirloom tomatoes and basil. Serve this with a side of soup and a loaf of crusty bread and dinner is served!

1. Place chopped romaine in a large salad bowl.

2. Top the lettuce with chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, red onion, salami, ham, mozzarella, parmesan, peperoncinis and basil.

3. In a small bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients together.

4. Serve dressing on the side or drizzle over the salad and toss to combine.

Italian Chopped Salad

Serves 6-8

All you need:

2 heads romaine lettuce, chopped

1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved (I love the multi-color kind)

¼ cup sliced red onion

½ cup chopped salami

½ cup chopped ham

½ cup fresh mozzarella pearls

½ cup shredded parmesan cheese

5 peperoncini peppers, sliced thin

10 fresh basil leaves, sliced thin

Dressing

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

½ cup olive oil

¼ cup red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon garlic powder

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

All you do:

1. Place chopped romaine in a large salad bowl.
2. Top the lettuce with chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, red onion, salami, ham, mozzarella, parmesan, peperoncinis and basil.
3. In a small bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients together.
4. Serve dressing on the side or drizzle over the salad and toss to combine.