This is the crunchiest Vegetarian Italian Chopped Salad ever!  The texture is satisfying, but the combination of all the veggies drizzled with an Italian Vinaigrette makes it one of the most delicious and nutritious salads you’ll ever eat.  This one will go on your fav salads list for sure.

Ingredients

10 ounces chopped romaine lettuce* (about 2 medium or 3 small heads, chopped)

½ medium head of radicchio*, finely chopped (about 2 cups)

½ medium red onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

2 ribs celery, chopped

1-pint cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced

⅓ cup stemmed and thinly sliced pickled pepperoncini peppers

⅓ cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed and roughly chopped

1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas, rinsed and drained, or 1 ½ cups cooked chickpeas

1 cup (4 ounces) ¼″ cubes of provolone cheese (optional)

Italian Vinaigrette

⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil

⅓ cup red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon honey

2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced

2 teaspoons dried oregano

10 twists of freshly ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon salt, more to taste

Pinch of red pepper flakes for heat (optional)

Instructions

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 them aside.

To prepare the dressing, combine all 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 to coat the salad and toss to combine lightly.  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