I was asked to bring a salad to Thanksgiving dinner this year. I just couldn’t bring myself to toss mixed greens, tomatoes and other salad toppings into a bowl. It was time to change things up a bit. Here was my salad at today’s Thanksgiving table.

You have to admit it beat a traditional tossed salad hands down. It’s a salad bar in one dish and could be used as the table centerpiece should you be so inclined. I dressed the rim of a shallow bowl with red leaf lettuce. Chopped mixed greens, including baby spinach, filled the center of the bowl. I then began layering the veggies. I started at the outside edge of the bowl and worked my way to the center.

Here’s what I used:

• Baby carrots
• Sliced celery
• Fresh green beans (blanched). I purchased a microwavable bag of green beans. They were perfect. I cut them in half after they steamed in the microwave.
• Baby asparagus (slightly sauteed). Unfortunately, the asparagus I purchased was bad, so I didn’t get to use it.
• Sliced red, yellow, green pepper rings, cut in halves
• Sliced mushroom caps
• Grape size tomatoes
• Yellow squash cut in half
• Sliced black olive and two black peppercorns for the turkey eyes
• Small triangular piece of yellow cheese for the turkey beak
• Reserve one red pepper slice for the wattle and two pieces of celery stems for the feet

You can serve with various salad dressings on the side as well as with a side of ranch for dipping. When you’re ready to serve, use tongs so guests can pick and choose the items they want to put in their salad bowls/plates.

TIP: You can also use shredded cheddar cheese as one of the layers (or any other cheese for that matter). You can put your personal touch on this salad with a variety of other veggies, like broccoli and cauliflower florets.