Chopped Autumn Salad

This recipe came to me from my dear friend and great cook, Amy Niendorf. She got it from Espressoandcream.com. It is a crowd-pleaser. And it provides a great opportunity to get creative with the various ingredients or to adapt to what you have on hand. Apples instead of pears? Almonds instead of pecans? Bleu cheese or goat cheese instead of feta? Add diced chicken? Maybe add chow mein noodles? Whatever you end up throwing into it, the ingredients and the two different dressings really knock this out of the park.

Ingredients
6 to 8 cups chopped romaine lettuce
2 medium pears, chopped (or one can chopped)
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup chopped pecans
8 slices thick-cut bacon, crisp-cooked and crumbled
4 to 6 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
Poppy seed Salad Dressing (I like T. Marzetti)
Balsamic Vinaigrette (I made my own since it called just a little. 1/8 cup each balsamic vinegar and olive oil. 1 Tbsp. honey. 1 tsp. Dijon. 1 minced garlic clove. pinch of dried thyme. Salt and papper. Shake it up.) 

Instructions
On a large platter, combine the lettuce, pears, cranberries, pecans, bacon and feta cheese. Drizzle generously with poppy seed dressing, followed by some of the balsamic vinaigrette. (I would estimate that I used about a cup of dressing: 70 percent poppy seed dressing and 30 percent balsamic vinaigrette) If you prefer your salad to have more dressing, feel free to experiment with the combination.