My go-to salad

I pride myself on making salads that people like to eat.... even people who don't like salad! I have a few go-to salads that I tweak here and there, but they are definite crowd pleasers.

Tonight was no different.

Ingredients I used/ use:
- Arrugula (I mostly use baby spinach, and sometimes sub in baby mixed greens as well)
- dried cranberries (I swap out pretty much any fruit: apple, pear, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, nectarines, and pomegranate seeds have been in there)
- walnuts (pecans, almonds)
- shallots (or a few pieces of red onion)
- gorgonzola (or crumbed blue cheese, or even goat cheese depending on the fruit I use)
- poppyseed dressing

My "secret" is to toss whatever greens I am using in the dressing first. I don't use much dressing-- maybe only half or a third of what a serving size is. If the salad is tossed well, every leaf is coated with flavor and you don't need gobs of dressing (which is where all of the calories live in a salad). After it is tossed well, I add in 1/2 to 3/4 of the "toppings" and then toss again just once or twice. Then, the rest go on top so it looks pretty.

This salad-- no matter what combination of ingredients-- is great. It's a mix of sweet and spicy and tangy and sharp and mild flavors. It's great!