When creating salads, think of using ingredients from these categories.

For Ingredients:
Greens
Herbs
Vegetables
Fruits
Proteins
Nuts
Seeds
Heat (as in spicy)
Cheeses
Starches

For Dressings:
Aromatics
Oils
Acids
Sweeteners
Spices
Heat (as in spicy)
Dairy
Herbs
Salts

Acids

Balsamic Reduction
Place 1 C Balsamic Vinegar in a pot with 1 tsp of brown sugar over medium to low flame. Heat until it reduces to a syrupy consistency. You can always use a nice 25 year balsamic instead of a reduction; but this is how you get a similar result to an aged balsamic without spending the money.

Starches
Croutons

Ingredients

White Bread / Pullman Loaf, sliced, diced and dried
Salted Butter (or add salt to the butter), melted and clarified

Flavor Ingredients (Use 1, or none, or as many as you want, be creative)

Garlic Minced
Garlic Powder
Dried Thyme
Dried Oregano
Italian Seasoning
EVOO
SnP
Fresh Herbs

Directions
Melt 1T butter per slice of bread (eg 4 oz aka 1/2 stick aka 4 T of butter per 4 slices of bread) in a pot over low to medium flame with flavor ingredients. Be careful not to burn butter or over caramelize any flavor ingredients, eg garlic dried herbs. Once butter is melted and foaming subsides, use a spoon to remove the white milky fats on top of the oily butter; you looking for it to be clarified.

Cut Bread slices with a serrated knife into strips as wide as the thickness of the bread. Then cut equal sided cubes from the strips. Place on a sheet pan and dry in a 250 -300 F oven. Try to avoid getting any color on the crumbs. Once dry or browning starts remove from oven and toss with clarified flavored melted butter.

Turn oven up 50 F and roast until golden brown.

Nuts

Balsamic Nuts

Heat enough oil to fry nuts in a heavy medium saucepan to 350 degrees.

Make Balsamic Reduction. Once syrupy stir in the nuts and remove from heat.  Strain the nuts reserving the liquid for the dressing (add any orange zest now).  Place the nuts on a sheet pan and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes.