Last Call: Talk To Me About Your Salad Bar Strategy

I buy exactly three things from the fancy, organic grocery store in my town: ancient grains, Dr. Bronner's soap in bulk, and salads from the salad bar. The salads are overpriced, I know, but they're fast to assemble and I'm getting my recommended servings of vegetables for the day despite my time crunch. Then, there's the fact that half the stuff I put on my salad could barely qualify as a salad topping.

You know what I'm talking about: the two scoops of oil-soaked pasta, the cubes of ham. By the time I've finished with the non-vegetable side of the salad bar, it looks like I've just been through a Vegas buffet. But it's a salad, guys, don't get it twisted.

There are, however, the wild cards I won't touch. I love cottage cheese, but on my salad, no way. Ditto raw chickpeas, which taste like absolutely nothing and still cost the same $8.99/pound as everything else on the bar. And Jell-O? Who even invited him to the salad bar? Shouldn't he be over near the pudding and fro-yo machine?

So my final salad ends up looking something like: spinach, kale, sunflower seeds, sliced olives, peas, shredded beets, cubed sweet potatoes, scoop of pasta salad, crumbled cheese, ham cubes, well maybe a few more ham cubes, sliced hard-boiled eggs, dressing. Yours?