The Best Italian Salad Along With Our Greek Salmon

So, it’s that time again when Bev and Pat head off to Sint Maarten ( Caribbean Island) for a couple of weeks at Pat's timeshare and Cindy and I are dog sitting and eating fish and first up was Greek Salmon using our go-to recipe. And while thinking about what to have with it, the same day up pops the recipe for Best Italian Salad Recipe (Restaurant-Style) from the “Ask Chef Dennis” blog.  I did the salmon and Cindy made the salad and followed the recipe as written but used Great Northern Beans and omitted the pepperoncini.  

The Best Italian Salad – Adapted from Ask Chef Dennis

Ingredients:

3 cups romaine lettuce chopped

15½ ounce can cannellini beans drained

½ cup red wine vinaigrette (below)

4 ounces provolone cheese diced small

4 ounces pepperoni sliced into thin ribbons

4 ounces Soppressata sliced into thin ribbons (we used Genoa salami)

¼ cups kalamata olives pitted and chopped

¼ cup red onion chopped

¼ cup pepperoncini seeds removed and chopped

Instructions:

Add the drained cannellini beans and ½ cup of red wine vinaigrette to a small mixing bowl.

Mix the red wine vinaigrette and the beans thoroughly, then marinate for at least 10 minutes or up to 1 hour.

To a medium mixing bowl, add the chopped romain lettuce, red onion, pepperoni, pepperocini, soppressata, provolone, olives, and ½ cup of red wine vinaigrette. You can re-use the red wine vinaigrette from the beans for a slightly creamier texture.

Mix all ingredients well and serve immediately. Add more vinaigrette if desired.

Red Wine Vinaigrette Recipe

Ingredients

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup red wine vinegar

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon garlic clove minced

¼ teaspoon fine salt

¼ teaspoon Italian seasoning

⅛ teaspoon black pepper

Grated Parmesan (added but us)

Instructions:

Add the red wine vinegar, garlic, Dijon mustard, and olive oil to a medium mixing bowl.

Whisk together all ingredients until fully incorporated.

Add the seasonings to the mixture.

Whisk all ingredients again until fully blended. Transfer to a glass jar for storage; I like to add a blender ball to fully mix it when shaking the jar.

The salmon before and after cooking.

This is my plate.

The Verdict:

The salmon was delicious as it has been in the past and I loved the salad with all of the different ingredients and the dressing was tangy which is how I like my Italian dressing. Cindy and her friend Ernie both enjoyed it as well.  So all-in-all a great meal.

Photos can be slightly enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

3/15/25 event date