After the heavy spices and red peppers of the giaourtlou kebab we’re taking a sharp turn. This fresh salad is inspired by what I found to be the major food categories in the design of  Cosi’s signature salad (my favorite):  1) greens, 2) fresh fruit, 3) dried fruit, 4) nuts and 5) blue cheese mixed with mild, fruity, or sweet vinaigrette. I almost always omit the nuts due to my daughter’s allergy. Otherwise, I’d have added walnuts. Here’s the version I did yesterday.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 cups romaine lettuce in chunks
• mandarin slices
• dried cherries
• pomegranate seeds
• blue cheese
• Brianna’s blush wine or ginger mandarin vinaigrette

How to make: It is very important to have a very  large bowl where you can mix all the ingredients VERY WELL with salad tongs until the dressing is evenly spread.  I use the tongs to mix the salad for no less that 2-3 minutes, and that’s a long time. Then you transfer the salad to a serving bowl.  What I love about this salad is the combination of blue cheese with fruit. Very addictive taste, I can’t have enough. As you can see, after I served the salad in a bowl, I topped it with extra blue cheese and  pomegranate so I could enjoy looking at them.