I took to salad “late” in life, lol.
My favorite of all is a simple fennel salad: thinly shaved, a simple lemon (or other citrus) and olive oil dressing, orange segments, and shaved parmesan. Arugula optional.
A close second would be fattoush and panzanella, ie stale bread salad. Summery versions with tomatoes are wonderful, but a warm fall version with roasted butternut squash might be even better. Red wine vinegar, balsamic, or pomegranate molasses all give different twists.
A schmaltzy bread salad with roast chicken is hard to beat (and even harder to get to the serving dish intact).
A fresh lemon, lemon zest, olive oil, and parmesan dressing is good on anything fresh and green — two memorable versions are a pea, snow pea, and snow pea leaf mix, and a pea, asparagus, and arugula one.
Some restaurant favorites that translate well at home:
