Olive Garden Salad Dressing

We were having spaghetti and meatballs one Sunday for lunch and I decided a good salad was definitely in order.  Thinking about spaghetti and meatballs made me think of Olive Garden.  Of course we end up eating so many servings of salad and breadsticks that we are barely able to eat much of the actual meal.  I decided that I had a craving for their salad, and my mind was made up. Problem was, there was no way that I was going to drive 45 minutes just to get some salad.  So I did a little online research, combined some recipes, and came up with my own take on the famous side dish.  Pretty tasty if I do say so myself! Everyone said it tasted exactly the same.  Enjoy!

Olive Garden Salad Dressing

Ingredients:

1 bottle Newman’s Own Olive Oil and Vinegar Salad Dressing

2-3 cloves of garlic finely minced (I used my Microplane grater)

½ Tbsp dried oregano

½ Tbsp dried basil

½ tsp sugar

pinch of salt

2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese

2 Tbsp Romano cheese

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk together until well combined.  Pour back into the bottle for easy transfer and chill until ready to use.

Olive Garden Salad Blend

Ingredients:

1 bag Dole American Blend Salad Mix

Red onion, chopped

Black olives

Banana peppers

Large Croutons

2-4 Roma tomatoes, quartered

Directions:

Top the salad mix with all other ingredients except croutons. Refrigerate until ready to serve.  Take salad out and add croutons. Toss with dressing.