Some of my favorite dishes come about as a result of being short on options. This antipasto salad that I had for lunch a couple days ago was one of those — a super quick, easy lunch!
It starts with me standing in front of the open fridge, thinking – Let’s see, what’s on hand? Mixed greens, Genoa salami, mini peppers, a block of Parm. Hmm, I could make an Italian salad out of that. Cut the salami in quarters, slice the peppers very thin, toss that together in a bowl. Shave in some Parmesan, using a vegetable peeler.
This Creamy Italian Dressing would have been nice, but since I didn’t have it on hand, I put 1 T. of red wine vinegar, 2 T. of olive oil, and a tiny squirt of dijon mustard in a baby food jar, and shook that up. Then decided some salt and pepper would be good, too, so added a few dashes of each, and shook it again. Instant vinaigrette!
Poured that over the salad, and tossed in some pine nuts. These add a bit of crunch and a little bit of sweetness. (If you like olives and have some on hand, that would be a good addition, too.)
Bonus: it’s Paleo-friendly, Whole30 compliant (without the Parm), sugar-free, gluten-free, and low carb!
Pretty quick, easy lunch — and doggone good for five minutes and on-the-fly! So good, in fact, it will be showing up as a side dish at dinner tonight. 🙂
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Hi again Jana
This looks wonderful, and I’m sure I’ll be making a fresh home-grown version of this salad in the coming months …. We are just getting into spring planting down here! So summer greens, tomato, basil, cucumber, bush beans, tromboncini zuchini capsicum (peppers) and many herbs – plus I’ve always got Parmesan on hand in the freezer 🙂
I also like the sound of your easy vinaigrette – I tend to use balsamic instead of red wine vinegar, but that’s mostly about keeping everyone else happy. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Balsamic is never a bad thing, in my book!
Can I use something other than salami? I am not big on it. What kind of beans are you using?
Sure: you could use pepperoni, or any other thin deli meat you like. There are no beans in it (I’m guessing you’re seeing the pinenuts), but you could include white beans if you want.