Big Pat's Favorite Things Salad

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens?

Not in my family. Those items definitely did not count as favorite things. We had a few things that ranked higher.

Channeling my dad (known as “Big Pat” on this blog), I know he would say: “No thanks. Give me Italian sausage and cheese any day instead.”

It’s very warm in D.C. today and it made me think of summertime growing up in Wisconsin and all the great things my dad would cook. In particular, he loved to grill Italian sausage from our favorite Italian grocery store in Milwaukee, Glorioso’s. He would serve the sausages with a salad full of fresh vegetables including peppers, mushrooms and onion with his special vinaigrette. My dad always made a great salad dressing (olive oil, red wine vinaigrette, garlic, onion salt and oregano and a squeeze of lemon juice) and I have tried for a long time to replicate it. I think I am getting closer and my attempt is below.

I decided to make a nice, warm weather-appropriate salad for dinner tonight with a few of my dad’s favorite things. What could be better than bocconcini (little almost bite size balls of mozzarella that you can find at almost any grocery store) with fresh mushrooms, roasted red peppers, toasted pine nuts, white beans (northern or cannellini will work), kalamata (or regular black olives) and turkey Italian sausage pieces tossed in a delicious vinaigrette?

Because it is not the weekend, I was a bit pressed for time to cook since when I get home from work my priority is to be able to spend as much time as possible with my husband, Dan and our son, Davis. The salad turned out to be a great idea because it was hearty enough for a main course and filled with fresh ingredients but still easy to prepare. The only real “cooking” I had to do was grill the sausage. Since Italian sausage does not rank high on the list of healthiest things in the world, I opted to use spicy turkey Italian sausage. After tasting the turkey Italian sausage, I think it could have even fooled my dad as tasting like the “real thing” from Glorioso’s. Additionally, feel free to personalize the salad for your tastes and add more of less of one ingredient. And, add as much or as little of the vinaigrette as you please.

Though I didn’t have a lot of time to let the ingredients marinate today before serving, this salad is even better the next day after the various components have soaked up the tasty vinaigrette. As my dad liked to say, “It’s never too early to think about your next meal.”

And with this salad, at least it’s already waiting for you ready to go the next day, even more delicious than the first time.

Here are the details:

Big Pat’s Favorite Things Salad (Serves 4)

Salad Ingredients
*2 eight ounce containers of bocconcini, drained from the water they are packaged in and cut in half
*1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
*1/2 cup kalamata or black olives
*1/2 cup roasted red peppers cut into 1 inch squares
*1/2 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
*1/2 cup white beans (northern or cannellini), rinsed
*4 Turkey Italian Sausage links, grilled and cut into bite-size pieces

Vinaigrette Ingredients
*¾ cup olive oil
*¼ cup red wine vinegar
*2-3 garlic cloves
*2 tsp oregano
*½ tsp onion salt

*Juice of half a large lemon
*Salt and pepper to taste

Details:
*Grill two links of turkey Italian sausage until brown and thoroughly cooked.
*While the sausage is grilling, drain the bocconcini and beans and cut each bocconcini in half. In a medium bowl, add the bocconcini, beans, olives, fresh mushrooms and roasted red peppers which have been cut into 1 inch squares.
*Place the pine nuts in a pan over medium heat on the stove and toss them until they are toasted. You will know they are done cooking when you can smell the pine nuts “toasting”. Add the pine nuts to the bowl once toasted.
*Once the sausage is grilled, cut it into bite-size pieces and add to the bowl.
*Whisk the red wine vinegar with the garlic, oregano and onion salt. Slowly add the olive oil while whisking and then squeeze in the lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste.
*Slowly add the vinaigrette to the bowl of ingredients and toss (use more or less vinaigrette to taste).
*Serve to the ones you love with a good loaf of Italian bread.