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We happily munch on salads all summer long, but when the weather starts to change, we can’t help but switch gears. There’s something about the cooler weather that just makes us crave heartier meals. But that doesn’t actually mean that we have to stop eating salads. Swapping tender and delicate baby greens for hearty fall staples like kale is the first move, but Giada De Laurentiis shared some other ways to make a salad satisfying enough to enjoy in the fall in her recipe for herby cannellini bean salad. We love a make-ahead lunch recipe as much as any one, but this salad, loaded up with some of our favorite ingredients, tastes like something you could get at a restaurant, not like a boring lunch you made at home.

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We already know that De Laurentiis is a pro at Italian cooking. We’ve leafed through her cookbook Giada’s Italy: My Recipes for La Dolce Vita about a million times, and she frequently shares new Italian and Italian-inspired recipes on the Instagram page for her website Giadzy. So when we saw that she’d shared this flavor-packed make-ahead salad, we knew we had to spread the word.

Giada's Italy: My Recipes for La Dolce Vita

$16.98

on Amazon.com

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The key to imbuing big flavor into this recipe is marinating the white beans overnight with lemon zest, sun-dried tomatoes
, herbs, and olive oil. We could honestly stop right there and be impressed, but De Laurentiis had better ideas.

Tuscanini Sun-dried Tomatoes in Olive Oil

$9.85

on Amazon.com

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She adds the beans to a salad of massaged kale dressed with lemon juice and olive oil, then also throws in some artichoke hearts
(one of our favorite pantry staples) and crumbled feta cheese.

Native Forest Baby Artichoke Hearts

$6.73

on Amazon.com

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It’s a flexible recipe, and we can imagine so many other add ins. Capers and olives could add tang, roasted red peppers could take the place of sun-dried tomatoes in a pinch, and we think toasted pine nuts or slivered almonds would complement the ingredients in the salads too, along with bringing some crunch to the mix. Any way you toss is, this is one Italian salad recipe from Giada De Laurentiis we’ll be making ahead all season long.

Before you go, check out Ina Garten’s easy weeknight dinner recipes below:

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