Green Salad with Italian Vinaigrette

This simple salad is the perfect addition to any dinner table, from a Paleo pizza night to a fancy roast chicken dinner. I love that the dressing comes together quickly with ingredients I always have on hand, but looks super elegant when finished. Plus, the herbs in this recipe add a nice boost of micronutrients to an already veggie-heavy dish. Talk about nutrient density!  Bonus: this is a wonderfully flavorful fully autoimmune protocol-compliant salad!

You can, of course, put any favorite salad green or veggie in this salad. Try turnips, daikon, celery, shredded carrots, blanched broccoli or asparagus, sliced fennel, arugula, green olives, and/or mushrooms!

Italian dressing is also crazy versatile…  try using leftovers as a marinade for grilled chicken!

Want to turn this salad into a meal?  Add some leftover cooked steak, roast chicken, or shrimp!

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: none
Serves: 4-8 as a side dish

Ingredients (Salad):

• 12-16 cups salad greens (lettuce, spinach, kale, etc.)
• 1 bunch radishes, finely sliced
• 1/4 medium red onion, finely sliced
• 1 large cucumber, sliced (peeled if peel is tough)
• edible flowers (nasturtiums, pansies, dandelions, etc.), optional

Ingredients (Italian Dressing):

• 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
• ¼ teaspoon dried oregano leaves
• ¼ teaspoon dried rosemary
• ¼ teaspoon dried marjoram leaves
• ¼ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• ¼ teaspoon dried savory
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/8 teaspoon cracked pepper (omit for AIP)

Directions:

1. Combine the salad ingredients in a large salad bowl and toss to mix well.
2. Combine the dressing ingredients in a blender and puree to blend up the herbs and garlic (dressing naturally separates, simply shake leftovers to mix again immediately before serving).
3. You may either toss the entire salad with dressing prior to serving (caution, leftovers don’t keep well with this method) or let each person drizzle dressing over their own salads!

Save