Portillo's Chopped Salad {recipe}

Ohmigoodness. This salad. It was so very yummy. We ate EVERY bite. Chris looked at me in the middle of dinner and said "This needs to go in our 2 week meal rotation." The kids devoured it. And we have talked about it a few times since.

I found the recipe on The Girl Who Ate Everything's website via Pinterest. And her picture looks SO much better than mine, see?

I hadn't heard Portillo's before and I found out, funny enough, that there is a Portillo's just 20 minutes from my parent's house in So. Cal! I should have been enjoying this salad for years and I've been missing out.

The dressing is phenomenal. Seriously. I usually use less dressing than what a recipe calls for, but we used every. drop. So don't skimp on that part.

Portillo's Chopped Salad

{see original recipe at The Girl Who Ate Everything}

3 cups romaine lettuce, chopped

3 cups iceberg lettuce, chopped

2-1/2 cups red cabbage, chopped

2 tomatoes, seeded and diced

1 cup green onions, sliced

4 oz gorgonzola cheese, crumbled

1 cup bacon, cooked and crumbled (I used packaged bacon bits)

4 cups Ditalini pasta, cooked per package directions and cooled

Instructions:

Toss romaine, iceberg and red cabbage, tomatoes and green onion in a large bowl. Right before serving, add cooled pasta, bacon, gorgonzola and dressing and toss to coat.

Sweet Italian Dressing

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon crushed garlic (2 cloves)

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

Place first 6 ingredients in a large cup. Blend with an immersion blender. Continue to blend and slowly pour in EVOO until combined.

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