antipasto salad

You know that limp, salty, overly vinegary antipasto salad you get at the local deli counter? It's really easy to make your own and it's like 100 times tastier than something that's been sitting around a deli case for days. So, why don't you try it? Enjoy it with a big glass of red wine and a nice slab of semolina bread to sop up the juices, toss it with cooked pasta, or even just enjoy it as-is, as a nice first course to an Italian meal. Or, you can scoop it onto a bed of romaine like I did!

For mine, I combined the following:

2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
4 tsp good extra virgin olive oil (the more peppery, the better)
3 jarred roasted red peppers, roughly chopped
8 marinated artichoke hearts, roughly chopped
8 kalamata olives (not really Italian, I know, but it's what I had in stock), pitted and chopped
2 oz fresh mozzarella cheese, diced
half of a small red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 lb of thinly sliced hard (Genoa) salami, cut into quarters
a couple shakes of black pepper

I tossed this all in a big bowl to combine, then spooned some of it over a bed of nice crisp romaine lettuce. It's SO much better than the deli stuff, I promise you! It actually tastes like, you know, artichokes and red peppers and salami, not just salt and vinegar.