I have only made this salad 47 times since Christmas, which is probably not far from the truth. The minute I tried this salad (made by my sister for our family over the holidays last year), I was hooked. I make it for every special and non-special occasion now, and many friends who've tried it have asked for the recipe.

You can call it "Ginger's Salad" like my friend Janna does, or you can call it "Holly's Salad" after my sister, or you can just go right ahead, make up your own name for it, and claim it as your own. But I promise, it is everything a salad should be, so from now on, I'm just calling it THE SALAD. 

There are 7 ingredients in the salad and 4 ingredients in the dressing. But first, a few picture prompts:

This is the blue cheese I buy from Aldi. I always thought it was spelled bleu, but is Aldi not fancy enough for that? 

These are the pecans I always sauté in a lot of butter over low heat. I've learned over time that the important part of this step is to get the pecans as close to being burned as possible without actually burning them. That almost-burned, little-bit-charred taste I love. 

And finally, a close up of the salad just before adding the dressing and mixing it all together. This moment means dinner is almost ready! 

Click to print, and get your salad skills on with The Salad.