Italian Chopped Salad
This flavorful and filling meal will convince you to never making a boring salad again. Based off a Portillo's favorite, my Italian Chopped Salad is chock full of nutritious vegetables but gets a pop of flavor from bacon, GF pasta, and feta!
Ingredients
Salad
- 2 oz red lentil or gluten free pasta
- 2 strips bacon
- 2 cups iceberg lettuce
- 2 cups green cabbage
- 1 cup red cabbage
- 1 cup arugula
- 2/3 cup red bell pepper
- 1/2 cup cucumber
- 2 chives or green onion
- small handful fresh cilantro
- 1 small avocado
Lemon Vinaigrette
- 1/2 lemon, juiced (about 2 tbsp)
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp garlic salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tbsp Italian seasoning blend
Instructions
- Begin by cooking gluten free pasta in boiling salted water, being careful not to overcook.
- While the pasta boils, cook 2 strips of bacon. To speed things up, cut your bacon into small pieces while raw. It'll cook faster and get evenly crispy.
- While the bacon cooks, chop all the vegetables and herbs into bite-size pieces. Add vegetables (minus the avocado), herbs, and feta to a large serving bowl.
- Once the pasta finishes cooking, drain and let cool slightly. If desired, cut into smaller pieces.
- Crumble cooked bacon to the desired size.
- Add pasta, bacon, and avocado to the large bowl. Whisk together vinaigrette ingredients and pour over the salad. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Calorie count includes dressing.
- I chopped my Trader Joe's red lentil pasta into small pieces (like ditalini) to make it a similar size to the rest of the ingredients. This is optional.
- If making the salad in advance, wait to add bacon, avocado, and dressing until right before serving.