Italian Salad

My family has eaten at this old school Italian restaurant by my parent's house called Nino's since as far back as I can remember. I've always loved that they put rotini noodles in their house salad...so much more fun to eat a salad when there's pasta in it, I mean... ;)

This salad is inspired by the Nino's salad, but it's a little lighter. I used turkey pepperoni and brown rice rotini instead of regular pasta. (Note: if you use brown rice pasta, don't put it in the fridge, the texture hardens once it gets cold and that would ruin the salad.) Another thing, the dressing that Nino's uses is super rich, almost too rich where the amount of vinegar and oil can be rough on a sensitive stomach so I decided to pair my version of their salad with a much lighter vinaigrette.

This recipe makes enough for 2 large salads or 4 side salads. (Since the size mainly depends on how much lettuce you chop up, it's very easy to eyeball and change the proportions to how large or small you want it.) The salad dressing can last for 7-10 days in the fridge.

What you need:​
For the dressing:

• 1 grated garlic clove
• 2 tbsp of an Italian herb blend. You can use equal parts of you're fave fresh herbs like parsley, oregano, and rosemary or my fave shortcut is to use pre mixed and dried herb blend from a jar of Alessi dipping spices for olive oil.
• 1/3 cup high quality EVOO (my fave is Jovial Foods - nothing compares)
• 1/3 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• Optional: adding 1 tbsp of very finely shredded parmesan cheese

For the salad:

• Two handfuls of rotini pasta, that's right, we're measuring it out like a little old Italian grandma would. If you have leftover, you can save it and eat it as pasta salad!! (The point is to have like 10-15 rotini noodles in the salad you eat, not a ton.)
• One bundle of romaine lettuce (sometimes I do a mix of romaine and iceberg or a spring mix - this recipe will work with whatever leafy greens you have a home!)
• 1/2 cup diced cucumber
• 1/2 cup diced pepperoni
• 1/4 cup sliced black olives
• 1/2 cup thick shredded mozzarella cheese (I love Sargento)

What to do:

1. Bring a salted pot of water to a boil and cook the rotini pasta.
2. Prepare the vinaigrette dressing by combining the herbs, garlic, EVOO and white wine vinegar in a container with a lid. (A mason jar works great!) Shake to combine and then set aside.
3. Prep the lettuce by cutting into pieces and rinsing with cold water. Prep the meat/veggies as well by dicing and setting aside.
4. Once the pasta is done, drain and rinse with cold water before adding a few scoops of the vinaigrette to it, I like to add the diced cucumber to it too in order to soak up more of the vinaigrette.)
5. Assemble the salad. Dice lettuce of choice, I prefer chopped romaine, iceberg works too.
6. ​Cut the pepperoni into quarter sized pieces and if you're not using sliced olives, slice those.
7. Sprinkle a little vinaigrette  onto the lettuce and toss to combine. Next, top the salad with the cheese, pepperoni and veggies. Finish with fresh cracked black pepper and preferred amount of vinaigrette dressing.