Dan Wesson Heritage. Has everything you really need and nothing you don't. Bonus: It's several hundred dollars less expensive than a Valor.
Great suggestion. I don't know why I always omit the Heritage in these threads. I have zero personal experience with it, though (probably why I always forget it). Do you know if it's built to the same standard as the Valor, or close to it -- not with regard to extras, but in fit/finish and overall build quality? (I see what the website says, but I wouldn't expect a company to say, "These are cheaper because we let Lefty slap 'em together with parts that were out-of-spec for our best stuff. He's blind in one eye, can't see out of the other, and has the DTs, but he was a hell of a gunsmith back in the day.")
OP, I guess I should have included a non-1911 recommendation or two, even though I think your single .45 should be in the platform you know best out of all pistols. I love the Beretta PX4 (Bill Wilson's favorite polymer pistol, but one that's still very underappreciated) and the HK45. I think HKs are terrific guns but just a bit overhyped, but with the current rebate, the price/value is very attractive. I've shot both a good deal. I'm trying to focus strictly on out-of-production guns these days, otherwise I would buy them in a heartbeat. This damned HK rebate has me tempted to pick up an HK45 or P30L; I think Beretta still has a $75 mail-in rebate going on for the PX4 as well. The PX4 is the softest-shooting regular full-size polymer pistol in each of its respective calibers that I've ever shot (and I've shot all of the ones worth looking at); the rotating-barrel action dampens recoil to an impressive degree. The build quality is top-notch, which makes it a terrific value at its ~$500 cost (before taxes or FFL transfer fee, but also before the $75 MIR). The HK45 has probably the most comfortable grip you'll find on a poly .45, is also a soft shooter, and is of course very well-built (the only real negative for me on the poly HKs being the triggers). Both guns are super accurate and reliable. Can't really go wrong. Of course, a third-gen. S&W will never do you wrong, either. S&W also made a wonderful shooter in years past that's quite 1911-like, but not a 1911, in the Performance Center 945. Super smooth and accurate. But they fetch a pretty penny.
As I hinted above, I personally wouldn't buy any American Sig from 2004 onward. The company and its lineup are getting Cohen's Kimber treatment in the worst way (I realize that might mean something different to you than me), and it makes this long-time Sig fan want to cry/break something. A pre-2004 P220 would be a terrific gun, though. I'm not a Sig purist that insists that the only good Sigs have ever come from Germany. American Sigs from the years before 2004 (some Sig-crazy folks say the mid to late '90s) are essentially the equals of their German counterparts, in my opinion.
I guess that's more than a couple of suggestions.
Like I said earlier, lots of great options out there.