Antipasti Chopped Salad

If you love antipasti this will be one of your new favorite salads. It is basically antipasti in the form of a salad! You won’t be able to stop eating it! Fresh, crisp, and so full of bold flavors!

Why I love this salad so much

Over 10 years ago, I went on an adventure to California with several other food bloggers. We stayed in Sacramento in a lovely hotel on the University of California at Davis campus. Smack dab in the middle of our adventure; we got to eat at Redd Wood in Yountville.  I don’t know if I was just really hungry or if the food at this restaurant was exceptionally good, but I couldn’t stop thinking about this chopped anti pasto salad for weeks after I returned home. I am not sure how this salad was listed on the menu, but I’m calling it antipasti salad because that’s what it was. An antipasto platter chopped up and tossed in a red wine vinaigrette with greens. Excellent!  Do you ever eat out somewhere and then obsess over what you’ve had?  Sometimes it’s not something I want to go to the trouble of making at home, but then other times I just can’t help myself!  Besides all the chopping, this perfect salad was super easy to throw together. And so worth it!

We ate family style which was super fun!  They placed plates full of pasta, pizza, and salads all around the table and we all shared!  It was just how I like to eat, together! I was so busy dissecting this salad and writing down the ingredients I forgot to take a photo of it, but I did get a few photos of the table.

Gather these ingredients

How to make antipasti chopped salad

The ingredients listed are what was in the original salad. However, Antipasti is what it is; add any of your favorites to this salad. If you are unfamiliar with what antipasti is, it is the first course of an Italian meal where little bits of cured meats, different kinds of cheese, and pickled vegetables are put on a platter to share and relax before the main course is served. So whatever it is you like on your antipasti platter can go in this salad. Chop it all up and toss it in a large bowl with lettuce and your favorite red wine vinaigrette (or you can make this one). Please give it a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a few cracks of black pepper. Set out and let people help themselves or serve as a side salad on small plates. 

Variations

To give you a few more ideas as to what and how you can serve this salad.

• Artichoke hearts are amazing in this salad.
• Green olives, and any sort of savory pickle is also good chopped into small pieces.
• Dressing the salad: Antipasto salad can be dressed in so many ways. Quite often, we will simply drizzle olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and a squeeze of lemon, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss. If you are not comfortable with this method, I urge you to give it a try. Taste it; if it needs more acid, drizzle more balsamic or lemon, and add more salt or pepper. It’s simple, and it’s how they do it tableside at every restaurant in Italy. 
• Side Salad or Main Dish: This salad is great served with grilled meat as a simple dinner or as the beginning of a larger meal.

I have a weird family, no one like olives.  Who are these people.  No one would eat it, well my oldest son did, but he picked off the olives.  More for me!  So I pretty much once again took on this salad all by myself, over the course of two days, just for clarification.

I hope you are eating something YUM with family or friends this weekend!

Much love, Sheila