I love vegetables, probably more than fruit, although lately Karsten and I can't get enough blueberries and strawberries. The thing is, though I love vegetables, lettuce based salads are not my favorite. I like certain ones and I think when other people make them they taste so much better than my own. I'm weird, I guess. So, with all of this said...I frequently make vegetable salads. Just a bunch of different vegetables chopped up, sometimes I add beans, pour on some salad dressing, and then I can eat on it for a few days.
The only reason this is really called an "Italian" Vegetable Salad is that I used a vinaigrette. I'm hardly buying bottled dressing anymore...it's full of preservatives and I really find it easy to make homemade dressing. I use the Penzey's Italian Salad Dressing as a base, then add a whole clove of garlic and 3 T. of parmesan cheese. I shake it up and store it in a mason jar.
I (heart) mason jars!
Here's the recipe Download Italian Vegetable Salad
Ingredients:
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1 orange bell pepper, diced
2 kirby* cucumbers, peeled and diced
1 jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and diced
1 can chick peas/garbonzo beans, drained and rinsed
¼ cup fresh basil, chiffonade
½ cup grilled corn (one ear)
½ cup favorite Italian vinaigrette (I use Penzey’s dressing base and add a whole garlic clove and 3 T. shredded parmesan)
Directions:
Toss everything together in a bowl. Drizzle with vinaigrette and serve. Makes great leftovers.
Great for a picnic because there’s no dairy.
You could add or eliminate any vegetable. I only call this “Italian” because of the dressing.
*Kirby cucumbers are small, pickling cucumbers. Look for ones that are firm with no defects. Store them in fridge without any kind of packaging. They are my favorite cucumber...very very crunchy!
This looks so good! Just missing the Penzey's...will have to improvise. I heart chick peas in just about anything!
Posted by: Danice | May 09, 2012 at 08:57 PM