Dinner Salads

Ahhh...the dinner salad. I'm talking large, buffet-style, all you can eat kind.
I'm definitely on a salad kick these days. Could be the extra lbs hanging on from the holidays?
The longing for warmer weather?
Perhaps it's just because I can eat a huge plate of this and feel good about it.

There is no set recipe for this, but in our family we do any or all of the following:

Greens: romaine, spinach, iceberg, bagged, we like it all

Veggies: carrots, green onion, red pepper, peas (a handful of frozen are a must), avocado, snap peas, mushrooms, broccoli, celery, tomatoes, red cabbage, cucumber, etc, etc, etc.

Protein: Hard boiled eggs, drained and rinsed kidney beans (or any other type - garbanzo, black, etc), cheese - we LOVE pepper jack, monterey, or feta for this but you could also do shaved parmesan, cheddar, bleu, etc. Also meat: julienned ham (I have the deli slice me a few thick slices of black forest, or I use left-overs from Sunday's ham, shredded chicken breast or store-bought rotesserie, crumbled bacon

Nuts (candied or slightly roasted), pine nuts, blue diamond almonds, sunflower seeds,

Other stuff: olives, croutons, dried cranberries, strawberries, pears, etc.

Salad Dressing: Lately I'm loving Good Seasonings Italian Dressing Mix. I use less oil and more vinegar than it asks for. Also, love Paul Newman's raspberry-walnut bottled dressing.

Favorite sides: chicken wings, potato skins, pierogies, steak, sweet potato fries, garlic or cheese bread