Chopped Salad

Some of my fondest memories growing up was going out to dinner with my grandmother here in Los Angeles. We always went to fancy restaurants so it was fun to get dressed up and see all famous people, ladies in expensive clothes, and enjoy the delicious meals. One of my favorite meals I've ever had while out with grandma was at La Scala, a restaurant famous for their chopped salad. I'm not sure what is so good about it but it is incomparable. I've tried to recreate it, even after finding their recipe for the dressing online but nothing compares. However, this past week my roommate and I had a big craving for a chopped salad so I decided to create my own version tonight using the nicoise dressing I learned to make in my Julia Child cooking class. I served it with some garlic cheese bread and an iced tea and it was a perfectly light but filling meal. You can add or omit pretty much anything you'd like, just as long as you chop the lettuce finely. This is great as a side salad but filling enough that it's also a perfectly fine main course. Oh, by the way, between the two of us, I used almost 2 heads of romaine lettuce and there is nothing left :)

What you'll need (will feed 4-6 people):
2 heads romaine lettuce
1 can garbanzo beans
10-15 slices good salami
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 red onion, chopped
Salad dressing

1. Rinse and dry your lettuce. Cut off the top about 1/2 inch to get rid of the wilted top, and the bottom ends leaving the majority of the white part of the lettuce (this salad needs crunch!). Slice horizontally 4 times, then chop vertically all the way down to the bottom, so you get nice shreds of lettuce. Place in a large bowl to mix.
2. Add the garbanzo beams, mozzarella, and onions. Slice your salami 4 times across, then 4 times down to get bite size pieces.
3. Toss everything together with the dressing and serve immediately.

enjoy :)