Saladworks announced the winners of its “Create-Your-Own Powerhouse Salad” contest. The contest asked Saladworks fans to submit their own Powerhouse Salad creation based on ingredients from the new True Nutrition menu, and encouraged fans to include ideas for new salad ingredients.

Saladworks received thousands of entries from all over the country to the contest hosted on its Web site and promoted through its Facebook and Twitter pages. Of all the entries, the creations by Lorrie Nixon of Azusa, California; Dana Schafer of Langhorne, Pennsylvania; and Joan Bayley of Dearborn, Michigan, were selected as winners.

The three winning fans will have their Powerhouse Salad named after them and sold in over 100 Saladworks locations across the county. The salads will be featured, along with each creator’s picture, as Saladworks’ seasonal salads for 2010. Winners also received a $500 gift card. The first winning salad will be released in stores this April.

Lorrie’s Salad features a spring mix salad base, almonds, avocado, feta cheese, and turkey topped with pita chips.

Dana’s Salad starts off with a mixture of iceberg and romaine lettuce, with artichokes, mozzarella cheese, olives, and tomatoes tossed with Radiatorre pasta and shrimp.

Joan’s Salad rounds out the winning salads with spring mix, artichokes, avocados, mushrooms, and fresh salmon topped with rice crisps.

“We are ecstatic about the response we got from our fanatical fans,” says CEO and founder of Saladworks, John Scardapane. “There were so many great recipes submitted, it was challenging to only select three. We look forward to seeing Lorrie’s, Dana’s, and Joan’s Salads become new fan favorites.”