I stole this recipe for Super Italian Chopped Salad from Tasteofhome.com who stole it from Kim Molina from Duarte, CA. This recipe for Super Italian Chopped Salad was my attempt to copy the Portillo’s chopped salad. I took the original recipe and made some changes. Chopped chicken and bacon was substituted for the deli meat. Good Seasons salad dressing mix was used instead of the vinegar and oil dressing the recipe called for. Many of the salads I make are just throwing what I have on hand into a bowl and adding dressing, this recipe for Super Italian Chopped Salad was helpful because it was good guide for measurements of the ingredients. Salads are a great way to experiment, you can easily substitute out vegetables you prefer and add as many additional ingredients as you want.
After a day full of sugar from trick or treating, a lighter meal of a filling salad is a wonderful way to balance things out.
“Every salad you serve is a picture you have painted, a sculpture you have modeled, a drama you have created.” – Carol Truax, The Art of Salad Making (see more quotes in the Quotes tab)
Cook 1 pound chicken breasts in a skillet. Allow chicken to cool, then chop into small cubes. If desired, cook bacon to yield 1 cup crumbled, set aside.
Cook 2 cups ditalini noodles, drain and set aside.
Seed and chop 1 cucumber.
Drain: 1 (2 ¼ oz) can sliced black olives, 15 oz can garbanzo beans and 6 ½ oz jar marinated artichoke hearts. Rinse the beans and chop the artichokes into smaller fork size pieces.
Chop and seed 2 medium tomatoes.
Finely chop 2 green onions.
Tear 1 cup spring mix and 2 cups romaine into a large salad bowl.
Assemble the salad dressing by using a packet of Good Seasons salad dressing mix, following the directions but substituting white balsamic vinegar instead of white vinegar.
Whisk salad dressing ingredients in a bowl or shake ingredients together in a closed container.
Assemble the salad by combining all the ingredients in the salad bowl and serve the dressing on the side.
Super Italian Chopped Salad
This recipe for Super Italian Chopped Salad was my attempt to copy the Portillo’s chopped salad. Chopped chicken and bacon was substituted for the deli meat. Good Seasons salad dressing mix was used instead. Many of the salads I make are just throwing what I have on hand into a bowl and adding dressing, this recipe was helpful because it was good guide for measurements of the ingredients.
Ingredients
- 3 cups torn romaine
- 15 oz garbanzo beans rinsed and drained
- 6 ½ oz jar marinated artichoke hearts drained and chopped
- 1 medium green pepper chopped
- 2 medium tomatoes chopped
- 2 ¼ oz can sliced ripe olives, drained
- 5 slices of deli ham chopped
- 5 thin slices of hard salami chopped
- 5 slices pepperoni chopped
- 3 slices provolone cheese chopped
- 2 green onions chopped
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp pepper
- 2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
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In large bowl combine the first 11 ingredients. For dressing, in a small bowl, whisk the oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Pour over salad to coat. Sprinkle with cheese.
Recipe Notes
I make this more like the Portillo’s chopped salad. Substitute the deli meat with 2 cups chopped cooked chicken and 1 cup crumbled bacon. Add 4 cups cooked ditalini noodles. A spring lettuce mix adds more variety instead of just the romaine lettuce. Seed the tomatoes, to keep them from making the salad soggy. Also add 1 seeded chopped cucumber. I use Good Seasons salad dressing mix, which I make with white balsamic vinegar instead of white vinegar. This dressing can also be used it to marinate the chicken prior to cooking the chicken. Leave the dressing on the side to let everyone add their own preferred amount, and the salad doesn’t get soggy if the are leftovers.