There is nothing like a great big salad to accompany your meals. This Easy Italian Salad is colorful, keto-friendly and pretty enough for a dinner party! The variety of lettuces and ingredients add interest, robust taste and crunch!
As an owner and wellness coach with McLean Ideal Body, we always suggest having an optional side salad as part of lunch or dinner. It’s delicious, nutritious and so low in calories that it can be consumed anytime without any guilt!
You may initially think it’s too time consuming to chop up so many varieties of salad. It’s true, you can buy salad mixes that are ready to go in the stores and that simply need a quick rinse to freshen up. However, the fresher and more economical route is to buy heads of lettuce and wash them as you need them. Your lettuces will be crisper, last longer and customized to your favorite varieties! You can also make extra so you have it on hand throughout the week! It’s such a bonus to open the fridge and see salad ready to go!
Easy Italian Salad Mixes It Up
It’s so fun to try different lettuce varieties. They each have their distinct flavors. For example, this Easy Italian Salad has arugula with a peppery taste. Radicchio adds beautiful purple color and can be on the spicier, bitter side. Romaine is a milder, sweeter and crunchier lettuce. Endive has a mildly bitter taste with some crunch. Fennel adds a mild anise or licorice taste. You can round out your Easy Italian salad with shaved parmesan cheese for some added saltiness. Top it off with a zingy dijon, lemon vinaigrette and you have so much flavor in one bite!
What is Fennel?
Fennel is actually not a lettuce, but rather a bulbous Mediterranean vegetable that can be consumed raw or cooked. It’s fronds resemble dill weed, but taste nothing like that. It has a mild licorice flavor that changes to a more woodier, nuttier taste when cooked. Fennel is delicious and nutritious. To prepare it, you need to cut off the green stalks, since only the white part of the bulb is used in most dishes. You can reserve the top or fronds and add to soups or dishes. Cut your bulb in half and use a mandolin to thinly slice the fennel for your salad. Remember, a little goes a long way!
Once you have all your lettuces in your serving bowl, it’s time to add your thinly sliced fennel to the mix. Top with freshly shaved parmesan cheese (either store bought or shaved from a chunk). Prepare your dijon lemon vinaigrette dressing, by combining the juice of two lemons, 1 tsp. dijon mustard, 1/4 cup of olive oil, salt and pepper in a jar. Shake up until all ingredients are combined. Drizzle on top of salad, serve and enjoy! It’s perfect on it’s own or as a side to any entree! Try it with our Tuscan Chicken Thighs!
Modern Empty Nester Tip: Wash and bag extra salad for the next day so you have it on hand. Use an old jam jar to make your salad dressing. Shaking all the ingredients in the jar allows the dressing to come together quickly. You can double your recipe and have extra on hand for the week!
Easy Italian Salad
Equipment
- Cutting board
- Knife
- Mandolin
Ingredients
- 1/2 head Romaine lettuce, large
- 1/2 7 oz. bag Arugula
- 2 large Endive
- 1/2 head Radicchio, medium
- 1/4 bulb Fennel, thinly sliced
- Fresh parmesan cheese
- Dijon mustard
- Olive Oil
- Fresh lemon
- Salt & pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Wash all lettuces and set aside. Chop romaine, endive and radicchio into desired bite size pieces. Add all lettuces to serving bowl.
- Prepare fennel by cutting off the green portion with the fronds. Cut the white part your fennel bulb in half, keeping the bottom of the bulb in tact. Using a mandolin, thinly slice the top part of the fennel bulb into thin slices. Add to salad bowl.
- Top with desired amount of freshly shaved parmesan cheese and drizzle on dijon lemon vinaigrette dressing.
- For the dressing: Combine the juice of two lemons, 1 tsp. dijon mustard, 1/4 cup of olive oil, salt and pepper in a jar. Shake up until all ingredients are combined. Serve and enjoy.
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