Spinach, eggs, bacon, olives, strawberries, manderin orange, seeds, cheese, berries, salad greens, most veggies cukes, broccoli, cauliflower etc, no beets can't stand them. If there's seafood yes, if there's meats possibly. I like to mix a dressing if possible raspberry vinaigrette with a few drops of blue cheese, I also like some ranch dressing. At home I have a bottle of raspberry infused wine vinegar, so good, I use that with just a dollop of Ken's blue cheese. Wonderful. I absolutely love flavored vinegars I have a large selection. I add a few drops to my water bottle, very refreshing, better than a twist of lemon. My favorites so far are the raspberry, pear, and pomegranate.

That sounds very good. I always add lemon juice to chicken or tuna salad. It seems to perk it up. It's a shame to just toss the celery leaves because they do add flavor.

Cynic, if I recall correctly you live in my area sort of? Wisconsin. Zone 5. If so, check out the deli stuff that the health food stores offer. ALL the salads are made on the premise and they have their own unique signature recipes, not generic muck. Both the Outpost, Whole Foods, and Beans and Barley, have fabulous deli items they make. Trader Joes has some vendor supplied deli style salads that are very good quality - better than what the deli at Pick and Scrounge offers. By law delis must give you a complete listing of ingredients if you ask. They should have them on printouts so you can check to see if an item has something in it you wish to avoid before tasting the sample. Otherwise if you are in another area check out the health food store delis for your areas. You may be pleasantly surprised. Of course the caveat is that you are not going to be paying $1.50/lb for the good tasting stuff.

jeri-, Sounds delish with tomatoes, olives and spinach. If it is the costco pesto in the squarish container that needs to be fridged?, i know that one. I like it. A life-saver in the dead of winter when i want something quick and fresh tasting. Nice and nutty, good garlic flavor. Hard for us to use up once opened so i freeze it in small containers. A tbsp in a salad dressing is good!. Also nice in a bean salad. When i drain my pasta i save a bit of the pasta water...just a 1/4 cup-ish in a pyrex. When your pasta is drained it will continue to steam being so hot. The first thing tossed into it will slightly cook and be absorbed. (why i don't add the pesto first....the basil will not taste as fresh). A small amount of marinade like a fruity vinegar with some of your olive brine, just a tbsp of each. A bit of good olive oil and again just a tbsp or less. (if it is the same pesto i know, it is made with mostly sunflower oil...just a tiny bit of olive oil further down the ingredient list). It is oily enough for me so i don't usually add any extra oil...and not about calories at all. More about an oily tasting pasta salad. If the spinach in your deli salad is firm, add it with the pesto later on when the pasta has cooled a bit. I add a bit of that saved pasta water to my pesto but judge that before adding. I'm always using different brands of pasta and i can never tell what the 'steaming' factor might be. If you want the spinach to be slightly wilted, toss it in when the pasta is hot adding with your marinade 'brine'. DH likes a certain pasta that i've been having trouble with. It is a spinach green leaf shape and a bit thick, and very starchy. It seems to like some extra olive oil to 'seal' it. Meaning to coat it and hold that starch. Otherwise it releases starch into the rest of the 'salad'. Tricky to try and reproduce a favorite, and often expensive, deli version. Fun though if you pull it off. I'm trying to crack the code of a great deli spinach egg salad. I think the spinach is Matador and just started a tray of seed starts for a fall crop...it is very thick and meaty, not thin and wilty. A bit nuts but i'm determined, : ) I did buy some over the winter and it has really good fridge shelf life. Also quickly blanched it froze well. Without the acrid iron taste that some leafy spinach has...