Getting Healthy.....Salad Italian Style

Last night was a rough night, you had a big meal...maybe a few glasses of wine. And right now you just need to feel healthy. You now that feeling? Fear not TPC has just the thing that will get you back in the game, it's very healthy for you and of course tastes great. Today we're going to throw together a Tuscan Salad. Like many of things we talk about there are basics of a Tuscan salad with room for many variants, so again, it's what you have in the fridge and what you like to eat. And this is SO easy to make. If it take you longer than 10 minutes to make you're doing something wrong. Let's go see what's in the fridge and cupboard first...shall we? OK let's prep...

What you'll Need:
Some Lettuce (any kind of lettuce will do, arugula is great here but I love romaine) enough to fill as many bowls as your serving.
Some Cheese (Feta, Havarti, Swiss, Cheddar are all fine and you probably have them on the fridge, but if you have it....Parmesan Reggiano would be perfect)
One onion sliced (Red, White, Yellow all work, but be careful this can be overpowering, I literally take one slice, the semi dice up the slices)
1 Can of Beans drained and rinsed (Kidney Dark or Light, but as an Italian I always have a can or two of Cannelini beans lying around)
1 Lemon Some Olive Oil (You know what kind)
Some Olives (Simple Black or Kalamata work really great here pitted please.....OH and you go with canned black olives, SAVE a wee bit of the juice for the dressing)
FG Pepper Sea Salt (Course not fine)
Some Tomatoes (Grape, Cherry, Roma...whatever you have on hand)
Artichoke hearts...if you have them? Sure why not!
Nuts? Almond? Walnut? Go for it!

Here's what I had on hand: TPC NOTE: Just for clarification when I use the term "some" here I mean you will have to eyeball. This dish is about presentation and eyeballing. So have all your ingredients ready to go and as you're assembling put just enough but not too much in each bowl. You'll see what I mean as you make this. It's easier than it sounds. Would I give you something hard to do?

In a very large serving bowl or separate bowls combine the lettuce, beans, olives, tomatoes and onions. Give it a quick toss. Juice your lemon (remember to roll it first!) and drizzle over your salad. Follow with some olive oil. Coat but don't soak! And now the little secret....drizzle on some of the juice from the canned black olives (room temp if possible)....no one will ever guess and it's a wonderful mysterious flavor.

Grind the pepper and sprinkle on the coarse sea salt (course gives such a better texture to the salad). Take a peeler and slowly peel some of the Parmesan on to the salad. You can grate but not as impressive visually. If you are going with another cheese. Cubes are fine too. And if you really have a need for meat, tear up some Prosciutto, Speck, Serrano or even some Black Forrest Ham. Like below:
Nice. Simple. Quick. Healthy and of course very tasty. Great for lunch or a light dinner. And quite filling....

WINE NOTE: Here you can go with a nice Pinot, Chardonnay, Riesling.....orrrr....What ever you like to drink! Most reds go nicely here.

Enjoy, have fun....and eat well!

TPC