comment icon 16 more comments But I do not love having to think about a dressing. I’m lazy. It’s not hard but it feels like a barrier? I don’t know. So here’s how I’m doing Italian salads right now – and by doing, I mean, like, making every couple of days to sit outside and eat in the sun for some lunchy moments of bliss. It’s giving Olive Garden bottomless salad, but, like, more grown-up, more fun, and all-around incredible. We’ve got shreds of romaine, chopped salami and cheese (two kinds, if you’re me), pepperoncini, paper-thin pieces of red onion, and a big spoonful of these garlic golden crispy bits that are essentially serving the purpose of a crouton in a more pleasant, less mouth-scratching format. Just a delicate, golden garlic bready crunch amidst all this flavor. Drool. And the key component! The dressing gets slicked into every crevice of this salad – it’s just in the form of a couple of absolutely mindless, no-recipe splashes and drizzles. I use 3 things:
a good olive oil pepperoncini brine Italian seasoning
There’s already so much good stuff here with a ton of flavor, so I guess I just started to realize – why are we making a dressing for this? No need. Splish, splash, shake and done. I’m using the DeLallo Castelvetrano Extra Virgin Olive Oil for this salad these days and it’s delightful – fruity, pleasantly bitter, with a peppery finish making it awesome for finishing which is basically all applications in this salad. Plus the squeeze bottle! Ooo baby! Love, love! It makes it THE PERFECT oil component in this recipe. I feel personally close to this bottle of olive oil right now. We’ve worked with DeLallo for years and they produce and import the best Italian products around! To big yummy Italian salads in the sun! Let’s go! Then we microwave that for about a minute, stir it up, and go back for another 20-30 seconds until it’s nice and golden. It’ll be HOT – don’t taste it yet! But add a pinch of salt and admire your crispies. and a splash of pepperoncini brine. 5 from 6 reviews
3–4 cups chopped romaine lettuce 12–15 pieces salami, cut into bite-sized pieces 1/2 cup cubed cheese like Provolone 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1/2 cup DeLallo Sliced Mild Pepperoncini 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
Golden Crispy Garlic Panko
1 cup panko 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 2 tablespoons DeLallo Castelvetrano Extra Virgin Olive Oil
No-Recipe Italian Dressing:
Drizzle of DeLallo Castelvetrano Extra Virgin Olive Oil (3 tablespoons) Splash of pepperoncini brine (1-2 tablespoons) A few shakes of Italian seasoning (about 1/2 teaspoon) salt and pepper to taste
More Italian Summer Favorites
Thanks to DeLallo for sponsoring this recipe!
