This recipe was created many years ago, long before the Atkins, keto or paleo diets were popular. For a person who loves burgers but realizes they need to eat a salad every now and again this is perfect, sort of. Yes, it is still a cheeseburger but there is a ton of veggies with this and you really feel great after you eat this.
Veggies are simple. Cherry or grape tomatoes are best but chunking up a large tomato if that is what you have is fine too. Use any pickle you want to just cut it chunky. You want to be able to taste it. Green onions are a welcome addition if you have them. Cucumber is not so great. It just doesn't add much. If you love it by all means add it. Mushrooms might be good. I frankly have never tried it as I hate mushrooms in general. Give it a whirl if you like. It's your salad, make it how you like it!
You can use just about any type of lettuce you have around. Romaine and Iceberg are easy to find and work great. If you prefer bib or red leaf lettuce feel free to use it. Spinach is NOT recommended as it would be offensive to the very nature of such as dish, lol. Also, BACON is not welcome here. I know, how is bacon not a thing with this? It takes over and does not add to the dish. Believe me, I tried to sneak bacon in but it just stood out too much and did not play well with others.
If you want a slightly leaner version make 1/3 lb patties instead. It still tastes great and has less fat and calories.
As for dressing, Thousand Island is king! Blue cheese was the closest runner up but it was way behind thousand island. Ranch was gross, I mean so wrong it was horrible. Vinegar based dressings are not going to work. Stick with thousand island unless you just really hate it. Then you can try blue cheese but start small. It can take over very fast.
Enjoy and check out the video over on Youtube to see how I put mine together.