Italian Chopped Salad

Recipe posts are BACK! After a two and half month hiatus, I come back with a recipe for non other than...a salad. This chick loves a good salad though, so be it.

I used to eat wimpy, non-protein, rabbit food salads. That just won't cut it now. I'm not sure if I'm still growing or that I'm working out more, but I want all the protein, healthy fats and goodies in my salads. With sliced salami, salty artichokes and kalamata olives, fresh tomatoes and protein packed chickpeas, I'm crushing on this Italian Chopped salad! 

Once you marinate the chickpeas and artichokes the rest of this salad comes together in under 10 minutes. Serve it as a hearty main salad or divide amongst your friends and fam with grilled chicken or fish as a side! Skip to the bottom to see how I stretched this salad out over a week to eat for lunches. 

Italian Chopped Salad adapted from Foodie Crush
serves 2 as a main, 4-6 as a side*

Ingredients: 
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. salt
14 tsp. pepper
1, 15 ounce can of chickpeas, drained
1, 14 oz can plain artichoke hearts
4 cups chopped romain lettuce (2 large romaine hearts)
8-10 oz cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/4 cup kalamata olives
4 oz salami, sliced into strips
Maldon salt, to finish

Directions:
In a small bowl or mason jar, combine olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic powder, dried thyme, salt and black pepper. Shake or whisk to mix. 

Drain and rinse your can of chickpeas. Pat dry then place in a medium bowl. Drain your can of artichokes and chop into quarters, then add to the chickpeas. Pour 2 tablespoons of the dressing on the chickpeas and artichokes to marinated for 30 minutes. Reserve the rest of the dressing for later.

Add the chopped romaine to a large bowl. Add your tomatoes, olives, and sliced salami. Add the chickpeas and artichokes in the dressing to the lettuce mixture. Pour the reserved dressing over the salad then toss to coat. Sprinkle over some Maldon salt and fresh cracked pepper to finish.

*I have been eating this all week for lunch. To preserve the lettuce, keep each component in separate Ziplocks and Tupperware, including the dressing. Each morning I toss it all together with a drizzle of dressing and it is still fresh at lunch time! I got 4 days of salad from this recipe. 

Annie