Salad Salad I Love Salad

Thank goodness this isn't a video blog because all you guys would be seeing is me sitting here shoveling salad in my mouth like it's my last meal!

For Easter I decided to keep the salad very basic not knowing what everyone liked.

I looked for a copy cat recipe of the Olive Garden salad dressing because it's the only thing great about that place. I found about 100 versions. I took what sounded like it would be tasty and mixed it up in my trusty bullet.

Now I know this salad and dressing was a hit because it was 100% gone at the end of the night.

For the salad I used the following:

1 - small head of iceberg
4 - small bunches of "artisan" lettuce of choice.
1 - medium red onion
3 - small peppers I used red yellow and orange ( 1 of each)
1 - pint of black olives from the olive bar at the grocery store. ( I rinsed mine and let them dry off to take away the brininess)
1 - bag of Italian style croutons.
1 - cup of fresh grated parmesan cheese
1 - cup of fresh grated Romano cheese
1 - handful of cherry tomatoes

Clean chop mix and chill in the fridge while you make the best dressing ever!

Before I give you the dressing recipe I didn't really measure I like to just toss stuff in so these measurements are approximate. Just make and adjust according to your taste and consistency preferences

Sorta Kinda Olive Garden Copy Cat Dressing:
1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
1 Tbsp Garlic Powder
1 TBSP Minced Garlic
2 Tbsp Parsley (I used flakes)
1 Cup light mayo (I used Hellmann's light I don't suggest using miracle whip because its sweet and runny)
2 Tbsp of olive oil
1/3 - 1/2 Cup White vinegar (add a little at a time and watch your consistency)
2 Tbsp of grated parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp of grated Romano cheese
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice

I put everything in my bullet blender and gave it a few pulses and just added things as I saw fit after I taste tested of course. The recipe this is based off of called for corn syrup and I had some but I didn't feel it needed it so I left it out. I can't imagine the flavor would change much with this added.

Adapted from this dressing recipe: http://www.mommysavers.com/2012/01/olive-garden-salad-dressing-copycat-recipe/

So make this dressing and put it on every salad you make. My handsome fiancé said " it's so good we don't need to buy dressing ever again. " There you have it! We got a winner!

Enjoy and Keep on Making Stuff!