Thanks, everyone. I will try chopping them up more, that sounds like it might work!

My favorite salad is made with Romaine, a can of mandarin oranges (drained), an avocado (diced) and a little sliced red onion. I dress it with a homemade cilantro lime vinaigrette which is made one cup fresh cilantro, 1/2 a cup orange juice, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup lime juice, 1 clove garlic all blended together in the blender.

Everyone who tries it loves it.

Honestly, I don't taste a lot of difference in the bagged either, but I hear that from a lot of people. The texture feels a little different to me, but I'm still newish to salad. Dunno. I do taste a difference in the new Burger King salads - they come in pre-packaged and are pretty much just the bagged salad in a plastic bowl.