This Salad Will Break Your Heart

I am a bonafide salad fanatic.

I have no explanation for why or how this happened.

I do have one significant requirement - no creamy dressings. Ranch is sacrilege. Creamy Italian is dishonorable. And don't even get me started on Thousand Island.

I'm a big fan of the chopped salad. I do not appreciate bulky lettuces. A memo to the people - head lettuce is best lettuce. It is cheaper. It is healthier. It lives longer in the crisper.

For this, I used a mix of red Romaine and plain ol' fool Romaine. Diced smallish.

I grabbed the early birds from the garden, which included a couple of black cherry tomatoes that embody a very disconcerting bruised hue, but are tasty, all the same.

I also used green beans from the garden, snapped and blanched.

To round it all out, we had diced cukes and zukes from the garden, along with chopped artichoke hearts, canellini beans, pine nuts and fresh-shredded sharp cheddar. Oh, and garden beets! I forgot them until after the photo was taken, just as I sat down to dive in. Close one.

The dressing was my fave dijon balsamic vinaigrette, found here. I will never love another more. But it's true what they say - buy the good vinegar. It matters.

Yo, if this is bird food, pass the wings and bunk me in a nest.