A Chef Salad in Stripes

with Avocado Ranch Salad Dressing

I ran across a beautiful vegan cobb salad the other day and it made me think: why don’t I ever do a salad in stripes? My salads are always so random and scattered … couldn’t we try a nice organized salad for a change? Something in nice straight lines.

As a child, I remember looking at a cobb salad on the menu and thinking: why would anyone bother to go to all that trouble of arranging all that stuff in straight lines … you’re just going to mix it all up together when you eat it, right? So what’s the point?

Well, I don’t suppose there really is a point. Maybe it’s just a different way of looking at salad. I mean, a stripey salad can be horizontal.

Or it can be vertical:

Putting it all in nice straight lines makes it look all grown-up and sophisticated. I think I finally get it … it’s a grown-up way to play with your food.

A Chef Salad in Stripes

• Fresh spinach leaves
• Tomato, chopped (or wedges)
• Smoked gouda cheese
• Lowfat ham
• Cucumber slices
• Red onion
• Carrot slices
• Toasted pinons
• Avocado slices
• Avocado Ranch Salad Dressing (recipe here)

I think my favorite way to look at this salad is to tilt it a bit and make it diagonal. And then mix it all up into a big mess, drizzle with Avocado Ranch Salad Dressing … and eat it.

This recipe was shared at Totally Tasty Tuesdays and Newlyweds Recipe Linky.