Too much stuff...

It could be suggested that a salad is as personal as a signature, and that no two salad makers will craft exactly the same dish. However, this argument seems to break down when I consider the old standard salad of iceberg lettuce. Moreover, throw in the impact of ranch dressing on any food -- particularly a salad -- and the salad becomes a delivery system for the flavors of ranch dressing. Not that there's anything wrong with iceberg lettuce or ranch dressing. But some ingredients can suppress the flavor of the others to force consistency.

Our salads feature parings of fruit and vegetables, punctuated by in interesting medley of greens. The spring mix serves as the base, but it is not the dominant ingredient. In fact, we have a dear friend who once opined that we put "too much stuff" in our salads.  I think this comment stems from the fact that a salad is commonly thought of as mostly lettuce (or greens) with a choice of dressing.  We approach the salad from a different point of view.

Lately we've been using artichoke hearts as the main ingredient, supported by blueberries, cherry tomatoes, strawberries, and pecans. Interestingly, this salad can taste different every day, depending on the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and spices that we add to it. In addition, the artichoke hearts themselves can taste different by the batch, which makes the first few bites of the salad an adventure at every serving.