Almost homemade ranch chopped salad

Inspired by my local grocery store. Thanks for overcharging for pre-made ranch dressing and "forcing" me to degrade to powdered ranch dressing. I LOVE it!

Ingredients:

1 pkt of powdered ranch dressing (I used store brand because it was 2 pkts for 98 cents!)
1/2 c milk or buttermilk
1 c mayo

Put this in a screw top jar and shake the heck out of it. Refrigerate until everything else is ready.

3 slices of favorite lunch meat, rolled up and sliced into half inch ribbons)
1/4 c cooked shredded chicken of your liking (I used grilled chicken breast)
3 large romaine leaves, torn into bite-sized pieces
1 stalk of celery with leaves, coarsely chopped
About 1/8th of a green bell pepper, chopped*
1/8 medium onion, whatever you have on hand, chopped
1/2 medium carrot, cut into match sticks or grated on the largest grater hole
Honestly, whatever kind of veggie you have in your crisper, chop it up to your liking.
1 large snap top plastic container
1 boiled egg, peeled and roughly chopped
Cracked black pepper, as much as you'd like

Other optional choices:
Olives
Banana peppers
C.O.C. (cheese of choice, i.e. feta, sharp cheddar, parmesan)
Fresh basil, cilantro or other soft herbs

Serving suggestions:
Goes great with toasted Ciabatta, French, or any firm Artisanal bread, toasted with a bit of olive oil drizzled on it.


Directions

Place everything into container except for egg. Drizzle with about 2 tbsp dressing (up to you how much). Replace lid, and gently shake the container to combine ingredients and dressing with veg and meat. Remove lid, sprinkle egg, cracked black pepper and any other options you'd like to add. Eat straight from the bowl or divy it up and share it with a friend next to an entree. Yum!

* In my humble opinion, the bell pepper MAKES this salad; gives it that something special. To me, it likens the flavors to a coleslaw without the heavy drenched-in-dressing feeling.

This salad is fantastic and economical. Everything I needed was right in my fridge, save for the powdered dressing. I never would have thought of using powder over bottled dressing, but this has totally changed my mind. Another great thing is that you can use low-fat or fat free ingredients, even sub yogurt for the mayo for an extra tangy, healthy alternative. Fantastic!