Super Italian Chopped Salad -- The Leftovers That Closed Out a Big Week

St. Patrick's Day. Corned beef and cabbage. Gayle loved it.

Drove Tuesday-Wednesday.

Book two at 75,000 copies sold in its first month. Not as big as book one but respectable. Sarah is pleased.

Gayle had a stable week.

Sunday: leftovers.

By Sunday, the corned beef was gone, Gayle had made it through a steady week, and the book two numbers were in — not record-breaking, but solid, and Sarah was happy, which meant I could breathe. I didn’t want to cook anything heavy. I wanted something crisp and simple that felt like a fresh start, and this Super Italian Chopped Salad was exactly that — colorful, satisfying, and done in minutes so I could finally just sit down.

Super Italian Chopped Salad

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 15 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 small head romaine lettuce, chopped
• 1 small head radicchio, chopped
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 cup canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup sliced pepperoncini peppers
• 1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, halved
• 4 oz salami, cut into thin strips
• 4 oz provolone cheese, cut into thin strips
• 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Make the dressing. In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the red wine vinegar, olive oil, dried oregano, garlic powder, salt, and pepper until well combined. Set aside.
2. Prep the greens. Combine the chopped romaine and radicchio in a large salad bowl, tossing to mix the colors evenly.
3. Add the toppings. Scatter the cherry tomatoes, chickpeas, pepperoncini, olives, salami, provolone, red onion, and parsley over the greens.
4. Dress and toss. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss everything together until evenly coated.
5. Serve immediately. Divide among plates and serve right away for the best texture and crunch.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 420 | Protein: 18g | Fat: 31g | Carbs: 16g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 980mg