Summer Sicilian Salad

I don't get to as many cooking classes as I would like. A recent one at Chicago's Chopping Block provided a great opportunity to mingle with friends from our awesome neighborhood school, cook, eat and later, in the school's lobby/storefront, wine-goggle costly kitchenware (many of which were more useful than the wine-goggling would imply).

Anyhoo, this salad was the thing I enjoyed most. I'm not sure what makes it Sicilian, per se. Surely the olives, tomatoes and capers are classic south-Mediterranean ingredients. Naturally I can hardly mention anything Sicilian without quoting Vizzini: "Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!"

Sicilian Salad
Print recipe only here

INGREDIENTS
2-3 bunches arugula, rinsed
2 small heads bibb lettuce, rinsed and torn
2-3 celery stalks, sliced diagonally
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup kalamata olives
1 T capers
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 T red wine vinegar (I like Colavita)
Kosher salt and ground pepper to taste

METHOD
Make sure to spin lettuces well to remove as much water as possible. Add salad ingredients (arugula through capers, above) to a salad bowl. Drizzle with oil and vinegar and add salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Toss and serve.