Crispy Italian Salad with Artichoke Dressing
Luigi Toscano’s top secret crispy Italian salad topped with his famous artichoke dressing! His tips and techniques turn what would otherwise be an ordinary green salad into an exquisite carnival of flavor!
Wow, if you don’t want to try this Italian salad after that description you had better take your pulse !
I’m sure you know it’s very important to try to incorporate a salad of some kind with every meal. Have your salad first and you won’t eat as many carbohydrates. It’s also a great way to get your daily greens, vegetables, sometimes fruit and even seeds and nuts!
Italian Salads
I have so much fun getting creative with many different kinds of salads. Watch for my roasted beet with baby greens and goat cheese salad coming to my Top Secret Italian Family Recipes cookbook soon.
As a rule, I try to steer clear of store bought salad dressings. They are unhealthy loaded with preservatives and hydrogenated oils. If your concerned as well, watch the Heavenly Scent section of this website for a variety of homemade dressings. Guaranteed to be healthy, unique and delicious.
Michele Romano Recipes
Italian Salad with Artichoke Dressing
Ingredients:
- 1/2 head organic iceberg lettuce
- 1 cups fresh baby organic spinach
- 4-6 radishes, sliced thin and quartered
- 1/2 cup cucumber, sliced and quartered
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 1/4 cup green olives, sliced
- 1 small jar (170ml) of marinated artichokes
Preparation:
- Wash and spin or towel dry lettuce.
- Place lettuce and spinach in salad bowl.
- Toss in radishes, cucumber, green onions and green olives.
- Using a fork, remove artichokes from jar, reserving juice.
- Cut artichokes into bite size pieces. Add to salad.
Artichoke Dressing:
Now, add the following ingredients to the leftover marinated artichoke juice.
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp oregano
- Add all these ingredients to artichoke jar.
- Place the lid tightly on top and shake well.
- Store in fridge until ready to serve salad.
- Toss dressing into salad, mix thoroughly.
Optional: Chop up one or two boiled eggs into your salad before mixing in the dressing. It’s a nice little healthy trick to add creaminess to your salad. I do this once in awhile for a nice addition.
Serves: 4 – 6
Prep Time: 25 min
Live long & Mangia!
Powerful Health Benefits of Artichokes
Artichokes are high in antioxidants, used in cancer prevention and treatment, they increased bile flow, they are good for the Liver, better digestion, help reduce cholesterol, and they are high in Fiber.
For more on eating healthy, I find The Health Benefits Times very informative.