Chopped Salad

My husband spends quite a bit of time in Jackson, Mississippi, related to his work. Lately he has been raving about the house salad at Local 463, a restaurant in Madison, Mississippi. I finally got to go there and try the salad that I had been hearing so much about. He was right, it is really, really good. I've tried to recreate it at home and this is what I have come up with.

for the salad:

Romaine and iceberg lettuce (I usually use about 2/3 romaine and 1/3 iceberg)
hothouse cucumber
slender zucchini
slender yellow squash
red, yellow or orange bell pepper
tomato
shallot
goat cheese

I chop the lettuce into about 1 inch pieces. I know it's wasteful, but I only use the outer 1/4 inch of the cucumber, zucchini, and squash, and cut it into small dice. That's why I look for slender ones. I dice the bell pepper into 1/4 inch dice, and I use cherry tomatoes cut into quarters. The salad at Local 463 looks to have red onion in it, but I like to use minced shallot because it seems milder to me.

for the dressing:

I tried making my own vinaigrette for this, but frankly I get better results if I start with Girard's champagne dressing. I want a creamy consistency to the dressing so I mix that with mayonnaise. Then I add lemon zest and lemon juice and a dollop of Dijon mustard and mix.

I toss the salad ingredients with the dressing and then top with crumbled goat cheese. I don't like the pre-crumbled goat cheese, so I use a log and cut it up as best I can with an egg slicer. I have found a goat cheese supplier in Alabama that sells crumbles that I might order and try, I'll let you know how that works out.