September 3, 2020

Italian Salad with Marinated Artichokes

Italian Salad with Marinated Artichokes is the perfect salad to serve with every Italian dinner. It is full of marinated artichoke hearts, ripe tomatoes, crispy cucumbers, creamy balls of fresh mozzarella, and Parmesan croutons. It’s all tossed with baby spinach and a red wine vinaigrette with oregano. One of the things I love about this salad is that it’s made with frozen artichoke hearts, so that I can enjoy this salad all year round. Plus, it’s so handy to keep the artichokes in my freezer, and I don’t even need to defrost them first for this recipe.

The Equipment You’ll Need

A Dutch oven with a lid- This is best for braising your artichokes. You could also use a casserole dish and cover it with foil.
A Non-stick Skillet- This is for the Parmesan croutons.
A Large Salad Bowl- This is so you can toss your components together.
A Salad Spinner- You’ll need this to get your spinach nice and dry.

The Ingredients You’ll Need for Italian Salad with Marinated Artichokes

Frozen Artichoke Quarters- You can find these in the freezer section of most markets. I really like to marinate my own artichokes. Sorry, but I think the jarred marinated artichoke hearts taste nasty. Sometimes, though, I can find nice marinated artichoke hearts at some of our Italian specialty stores. Oddly enough, one of my pickiest eaters just loves artichokes.
Baby Spinach- I have a spinach hater in the house, and he did not seem to notice I used spinach instead of lettuce. I think it added a nice taste to the salad, but I do love spinach. You could of course substitute lettuce.
Fresh oregano and fresh thyme- These herbs add so much nice flavor to the salad.
Fresh mozzarella balls- These add a great richness and flavor to the salad.

How I Made my Salad

First, I cooked my artichokes. I made sure to stir the artichokes well, to make sure they were completely coated in the oil.
While they cooked, I made my croutons. I made sure to turn the bread cubes over, to get them golden brown on all sides. Just like last time, we ate all the croutons before they could actually go in the salad.
I also cut up all the vegetables and made the dressing.
Finally, I tossed everything together, with just a bit of dressing. Then, I put it in the refrigerator, for a few hours, until it was time for dinner.

We really love this salad! I first planned to serve it tonight with my Traditional Chicken Parmesan and Oven Baked Polenta, but then my daughter requested my Pasta with Basil Pesto. So we had that instead, of course, with this Italian Salad with Marinated Artichokes. It’s such a good salad, and I hope you’ll try it soon!

Italian Salad with Marinated Artichokes

Marinated artichokes tossed with spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers. red onion, red pepper, mozzarella, and homemade croutons.

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 40

Total Time 55

Course Salad

Cuisine Italian

Servings

Calories 250 kcal

Ingredients

10 ounces frozen artichoke quarters
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves sliced garlic
2 cloves minced garlic
3 sprigs thyme
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 bay leaf
¼ tsp. kosher salt
¼ tsp. black pepper
4 cups baby spinach
2 cups sliced cucumber
1 red pepper, sliced
½ cup olives
1 cup fresh mozzarella balls
2 cups thin tomato wedges
½ cup sliced red onion
Parmesan croutons
Red Wine Vinaigrette with Oregano

For the Parmesan Croutons:

4 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 cloves crushed garlic
3 cups baguette, cut in one inch cubes
¼ cup finely grated Parmesan Cheese

For the Red Wine Vinaigrette with Oregano:

½ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup red wine vinagar
2 cloves minced garlic
⅛ tsp. kosher salt
⅛ tsp. black pepper
1 tbsp. fresh oregano

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the frozen artichokes in a small Dutch oven along with the oil, garlic, thyme, lemon juice, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Cover and bake for 4O minutes, and then discard the bay leaf and thyme and let the artichokes cool to room temperature.
Place the artichokes in a large salad bowl, along with the rest of the ingredients, and toss with your desired amount of dressing. Serve topped with the croutons.

For the Red Wine Vinaigrette with Oregano:

Shake all the ingredients together in a small jar.

For the Parmesan Croutons:

Melt the butter in a large, nonstick skillet, and cook the garlic for two minutes. Add the bread, and brown it on all sides. Discard the garlic, and stir the Parmesan into the bread. Remove the pan from the heat.