Vegetarian Cobb Salad

At the social service agency I work for, we have monthly all-staff potlucks.  It's an opportunity for the 100 or so of us who work together to come together for a meal and listen to some agency-wide announcements.  I'm on the committee that organizes the potlucks, and we've come to realize, (I think,) that the potlucks are better attended when there's some type of "theme."  We have had comfort food themes, chili cook-offs, and most recently, to usher in spring, a "salad" theme.  As interim chair of this committee, I penned a haiku, celebrating salads, that went something like this:

Veggies, fruit, pasta,

Beans, grains, Jell-O or Snickers,

Tossed in a bowl.  Yum!

(Yes, there is such a thing as "Snickers Salad."  I'm scared of it.  Has anyone ever tried this?  Is it a Midwestern thing?  A Minnesota thing?  I had never heard of this edible food-like substance until moving to Minnesota.)

Anyhow, I digress.  :)

Personally, I think of salads as something . . . healthier, produce-packed, downright nutritious!  However, my husband is very much an "eggs-n-cheese" vegetarian -- he prefers his food heavy, comfy, and filling.  What's a veggie-loving wife to do?

Enter: Vegetarian Cobb Salad

Ingredients for one salad:

Salad greens (mixed baby greens, romaine, leaf lettuces, whatever you prefer)

Hard-boiled egg

Avocado, cubed

Tomato, chopped

Blue cheese, crumbled

Vegetarian mock chicken patty, cooked and cubed

Coconut bacon

Red wine vinaigrette (I made my own and added plenty of chives, as most of the traditional Cobb salads call for them)

This salad achieves that perfect balance -- plenty of nutritious greens, healthy fats, and quality vegetarian protein, yet heavy, rich, and substantial enough for even the heartiest eaters.

What are your favorite "pleases everyone" meals?