I was going to post my list of mix & match salad ideas, But when I googled it, pages and pages popped up including one from Oprah here.
One of my favorite salads is Logan's Roadhouse Anything & Everything Salad with
Romaine lettuce, hard-boiled egg, bacon, bleu cheese, tomatoes, toasted walnuts, dried cranberries, & mesquite wood-grilled chicken. Served with Balsamic Vinaigrette. I always ask for sharp shredded cheddar cheese in place of the bleu cheese. Several years ago they changed it up to chicken pieces instead of strips, toasted walnuts in place of glazed walnuts. Less dried cranberries. Less and cheaper made but still a price increase. Before they changed it I could eat half now and save half for later. I still eat part of it there and save some for later. For my next days lunch I just add more greens and whatever I have on hand.
My son Josh brought home a salad from Outback last week. It was wonderful! Everything was fresh. You can taste the difference when a salad is freshly made or premixed.. The croutons had been tossed in fresh garlic. I never thought of doing that before instead of adding garlic or garlic powder before you bake them. I'll be experimenting with garlic on my next batch of croutons! :) The Thousand Island dressing must be made there also. It was the best I've tasted ever!
It's so disappointing when a restaurant uses short cuts. I can't be the only one that notices it. I'm not a picky eater. Really! I know they have to compete but I'd rather pay a little more than have them use inferior ingredients and prepackaged products.
I'll be posting later other ideas I have. Many times I'll come up with a great recipe or a good combination for a salad and forget to write it down. Well it's usually lost forever then. Always write it down when you find a good combination of ingredients for a recipe! Including a salad. Keep a file on your computer of recipes and make categories. I have one file named Mama's Cookbook. I put all of our favorite recipes in it. After you make the recipe always add a note at the end with the date you made it. Add anything you changed and if it improved it or was a bust.
Back to salads.Sorry I tend to wonder in my live conversations too! Print out Oprah's mix & match salad and laminate it to keep on hand. Or make up your own in chart form. You could glue a magnet strip on the back and post it on your refrigerator. I post a few of my "go to" recipes on the side of my refrigerator along with a chart for ingredient substitutes and measurement converter.
