Country Italian Salad


Country Italian Salad // shutterbean

Let’s make another one of my favorite Trader Joe’s salads. This Country Italian Salad is one of my go-to salads when I’m grabbing a quick lunch at work.

Country Italian Salad // shutterbean

I usually pair it with a cup of Trader Joe’s Red Pepper Tomato Soup (which I add a little cheese & hot sauce up in).

Country Italian Salad // shutterbean

Now I have meals for work the rest of the week. What I love about this salad is the crunch, the protein from the beans, the tangy dressing and the sweet peppers. It’s definitely good on its own, although you could add some tuna, chopped chicken or go wild and add avocado in there. You could also pair it with grilled sausage & grilled flatbread. That sounds good, right??! The garlicy parmesan dressing (that get’s even better on day two) is where it’s at. I want to put it on everything.

Other Trader Joe’s Salad I’ve Shutterbean-ified (totally a word) include:

BBQ CHICKEN SALAD

SUPER SPINACH SALAD

BROCCOLI KALE SLAW

And we’re off! This is a dream for a person with a vegetable chopping compulsion. Ahem, me.

Country Italian Salad // shutterbean

Dressing…

Country Italian Salad // shutterbean

Comes together!

Country Italian Salad // shutterbean

Put a lid on it. SHAKE.

Country Italian Salad // shutterbean

You could toss this whole salad together or you could put it in TO-GO containers for the week.

Bring the jar of dressing with you. It’s already in a jar. PORTABLE!

Country Italian Salad // shutterbean

And we dress…

countryitaliansalad 031

Look at all that color.

Country Italian Salad // shutterbean

I just got the cutest TO GO containers from Cost Plus. Do you say Cost Plus or World Market?

Are you one of those people that says Cost Plus World Market?  Discuss.

They make eating salad so much easier cuz it’s like an actual bowl…with a lid!

Country Italian Salad // shutterbean

SALAD TIMES, excellent!

Country Italian Salad

makes 3-4 servings

for the dressing:

  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 1/3 cup grated Parmesan
  • kosher salt & fresh ground pepper

for the salad:

  • 2 heads romaine lettuce, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 green pepper, finely diced
  • 1-2 red peppers, finely diced (I used a combo of red, orange & yellow)
  • 1 cup shredded carrots
  • 2 green onions, finely diced
  • 1 14.5 oz can cannelini beans, drained & rinsed
  • 3/4 cup shaved Parmesan cheese

In a small jar mix the vinegar, oil, garlic, mustard, basil, oregano & parmesan together. Season with salt & pepper. Put lid on jar and shake until dressing is well incorporated.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, toss the lettuce, peppers, carrots, green onions with the cannelini beans. Drizzle dressing on top of salad and toss to coat. Serve the salad with shaved Parmesan cheese on top.

 

  • LIA

    Do you know I came here to internet land this morning, after a very over-indulgent weekend, looking for a salad? BOOM! There you go again – absolutely perfect!

    I’m from the UK and i’m thankful to not have a massive holiday before Christmas – i don’t know if I could handle it!

    XxX

  • Nicola

    Lunches next week? Sorted. Thank you for not making me slump, uninspired and knackered, over my lap top at breakfast on Sunday morning!

  • Kiran @ KiranTarun.com

    LOVE this salad!!! Loving all the colors and textures!! Just pure love šŸ™‚

  • Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar

    I love how colourful this salad is. It’s gorgeous!

  • Nicole

    It will always be Cost Plus to me! I’m about to head out for these ingredients and pack lunches for the week. Yum!

  • Heather

    Those bowls are so cute! Imagine my dismay to find that a website called “World Market” does not ship outside of the States. What’s that about?!

  • Emily

    Tracy, thank God for your “make salads for the week on Sunday night” recipes…I’m SO much more likely to eat semi-healthy if I can make a bunch of meals all at once (and bonus if they’re salads and I can just take the dressing separately). I’m just about to start in on another week of your Reset Button salads, which are a revelation. My grocery store sells gladware containers that have these little dressing cups that snap into the lids…verrrry convenient.

  • Mallory @ Because I Like Chocolate

    This is my kind of salad. I love adding beans in for protein!

  • Denise

    This salad is perfect in so many ways, will be noshing on it between the holidays (and probably after).

  • GreenDavis

    The Cost Plus/World Market debate!!! I love it and I’m so glad I’m not the only one who is stumped by this. Whenever I tell my husband I’m going to Cost Plus he says “Costco?” And then I say, “No, Cost Plus, that international store, you know?” And then he says, “Oh, World Market.” And then I feel aggravated, again, for the 1000th time. It drives me crazy. I should just start saying Cost Plus World Market but ain’t nobody got time for that.

    CPWM? Maybe pronounce it CaP-WaM? Please solve this dilemma for me!

  • Eileen

    This salad sounds so good. I especially love the idea of adding white beans for insta-complete meal!

  • Millie

    Yum yum yum! Seriously your salads always look so yummy, I wish I could make them for my packed lunch, but it’s just too cold in london haha! Thanks for another great recipe šŸ™‚

  • Rachel

    Hey Tracy-
    I’m not a huge fan of peppers, do you have another veggie that would work well in this salad to replace them?

    Cost Plus all the way!

  • cindy

    My mom always calls it Cost Plus…I think it’s from her days of living in the East Bay when I was a little. I use either/both depending on who I’m talking to and how blank the stare I get is.

    This salad looks so good and I LOVE to chop veggies. It’s so relaxing!

  • Amy

    This salad looks so delicious! I put peppers in my lunch salad for this week too. I’m not usually a huge fan but the sweet crunch is perfect for the hot summer weather here in Australia.
    I loved World Market when I was in LA a few years ago – unfortunately too many awesome things and not enough suitcase room!
    I hear they ship internationally though….

  • Alli

    Those diced peppers totally look like gummy bears. Gummy bear salad!

  • fusilliamy

    Please know that I don’t normally throw this word around, but this salad is totally in my ….wheelhouse (Sorry). Beans, parmesan and garlicy dijon dressing are my favorite salad components.

    Meanwhile, World Market has always been that to me, BUT I still call Costco it’s OG name, Price Club, so I feel you.

  • Lydia W.

    I’ve always said Cost Plus… those bowls are SUPER cute! I definitely need one or three.

  • Jenna

    Yum! I think I’m going to make this with cat food instead of tuna. Haha. Actually it looks amazing just as is (or maybe with just a little bread on the side!)

  • Jennifer

    You have no idea how Shutterbean-ified my packed lunches for work have become! Thanks for looking out for the rest of us who also don’t want to buy junk at work every day. šŸ™‚

  • Marie

    Hmmm, I’m gonna be completely honest-I’ve never even noticed the Cost Plus part so I’ve always just called it World Market…The Cost Plus words are so tiny compared to the World Market (at least where I live).

  • Reynaul

    World Market here! I saw those bowls and wanted to get them so bad! Does the lid stay on pretty tightly?! I am so going to get those bowls and make this salad this evening!

  • Heidi - Apples Under My Bed

    I love it when you hack Trader Joe’s salads! It makes me miss them less. This makes me think I need to UP my dressing game. I have no idea what you’re talking about re Cost World. Plus? It sounds large and overwhelming and amazing.
    Heidi xo

  • suzanne

    Cost Plus! And, I am so making this salad. Especially now that I’m 4 hours from my closest Trader Joe’s (and Cost Plus.) I think those that call it World Market just weren’t around in the days when it was just a big old warehouse in the Bay Area, filled with incense and great ethnic clothing and stuff….It’s COST PLUS, baby!

  • jillian

    first of all, world market for sure.
    secondly, i LOVE the salad, juice and cocktail posts!!!!!! my go to for inspiration and taste:)

  • Lisa [With Style & Grace]

    Recently I’ve been putting parmesan on EVERYTHING. I think this salad needs to be next.

  • Gaby

    that salad dressing is like my favorite thing in the whole wide world. I’m coming over next time you make this

  • Jenn

    Thank you for posting a salad idea. Sometimes I just need a nudge to eat healthy OR it’s that I want a healthy meal, just lack the inspiration to make it occur outside of the same boring house-style salad.

  • Kate

    That dressing looks divine! Cheese + dressing= hell yeah!

  • Cynthia

    Hi, I tried this salad from Trader Joe’s and I LOVE it. I wanted the recipe so bad, now I can make it myself instead of paying $4 per container. BOOM, you had the exact recipe that I come to love. Awesome! Sometimes I add 6 oz of Wild Salmon to it, I also added more Dijon mustard, minus the oregano and no Parmesan and added nutritional yeast for the dressing. Four years ago I use to LOVE any type of salad, but I got tired of them. I started going to a salad bar restaurant, now I can go occasionally with friends and save money too. :>) Since Jan/2014 I became a flexitarian vegetarian. Thanks.

  • Jenn

    I just made this dressing, and a very close riff on the salad, and it was fabulous. I didn’t add cheese to the dressing (must have misread the recipe) and added avocado to the salad instead of cheese. I didn’t miss the cheese, although it does sound like a delightful addition.

    Thanks for the recipe, I needed a default dressing recipe, and I do believe that I’ve found it!

  • Heather

    Iā€™m sad Trader Joesā€™s stopped carrying this one as it was my fave. Think you may be missing some chopped cabbage that was mixed with the romaine? Growing up in the Bay Area, we said Cost Plus so thatā€™s what itā€™ll always be to me, Thx for the recipe.

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