Julie’s Italian House Salad with Red Wine Dressing

This easy Italian green salad recipe is one of my favorite Italian side dishes. Fresh, crisp lettuce with artichoke hearts, parmesan cheese, and onion. Topped with a red wine vinaigrette!

My mother-in-law, Julie, is famous for making this simple salad! It’s a close replica of the side salad from a local restaurant in our hometown, called Madison’s Café. Madison’s is famous for this salad! You have to order it when you eat there!

What makes this easy recipe the BEST easy Italian green salad? Fresh produce and a homemade Italian vinaigrette! This side salad recipe has a base of crunchy veggies.

I use romaine hearts, iceberg lettuce and fresh onions. Then, I add Parmesan cheese, artichokes and a homemade, delicious dressing. It’s so good!

This hearty salad makes a wonderful side dish for almost any main course! Serve with your favorite Italian dish, or with pork chops for a light dinner.

“This was excellent. Husband really liked the dressing and the addition of the artichokes.“

– Mary

Recipe Additions:

As with any recipe you find here on Blackberry Babe, use it as a base recipe, and add whatever sounds good to you! Here are a few suggestions:

• diced red bell peppers or green bell pepper
• black olives or kalamata olives
• cherry tomatoes
• sun-dried tomatoes
• pepperoncini peppers or banana peppers
• sliced English cucumber
• crunchy croutons
• add a teaspoon of Dijon mustard to the homemade dressing for extra flavor
• add whole garlic cloves to the dressing

“One of my favorite salads, I literally crave it all the time- good thing it’s super easy to make!! Great work Michelle!”

Emily B.

Substitutions:

And, it’s always best to use the ingredients you have on hand! Here are a few substitution suggestions:

• mozzarella cheese or provolone cheese for the Parmesan cheese
• grape tomatoes or your favorite veggie for the artichoke hearts
• butter lettuce or the lettuce of your choice for the iceberg and/or romaine lettuce

But, if you do substitute the lettuce, you may want to skip “resting” the salad in the refrigerator.

Serving Suggestions:

I love to serve this salad with crusty bread and my favorite Italian meal. If you need suggestions, try Chicken Pasta with Rosa Sauce, Crab Carbonara Pasta, Pasta alla Norma or my awesome Easy Red Wine Pasta Sauce over pasta of your choice!

Storing Leftovers:

Keep leftovers separated (salad and dressing). Store leftover lettuce in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. The dressing will keep on your counter at room temperature in a sealed container for up to one week.

Love this recipe? I think you’d also love my Easy Chicken Milanese, or this Crab Linguine Carbonara pasta.