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3 Sumptuous Salads for Summer

from Commonsense Kitchen…

(page 1 of 3)

Chef’s Salad

The Commonsense Kitchen by Tom Hudgens

(Chronicle Books, 2010, $35)

Traveling through Wyoming one rainy spring, I ate in a classic American, pretense-free restaurant and ordered a chef’s salad and chicken soup with rice. Though the salad was made with ordinary ingredients—iceberg lettuce and perhaps not the freshest crinklecut carrot sticks—it hit the spot, and I quickly introduced my version into the Deep Springs lunch repertoire. The community loved it so much that for a time it became our special-occasion lunch — huge, fresh, colorful trays of chef’s salad welcomed Deep Springs trustees, alumni gatherings, visiting scholars, and families for graduation. The particular components specified below are classic and familiar to everyone, but you may vary the suggested lettuces, vegetables, toppings, and dressings to suit any circumstance.

In warm weather, serve chef’s salad alone with freshly baked bread or biscuits; in cold weather, include a hot vegetable soup as well. Serves 6 abundantly

Greens

• 1 small head red-leaf lettuce
• 1 small head butter lettuce
• 1 small bunch spinach
• 1 1/2 cups shredded red cabbage

Toppings

• 1/2 small red onion, shaved thin
• 4 slices turkey breast, cut into bite-sized ribbons
• 4 slices ham, cut into bite-sized ribbons
• 4 slices sharp Cheddar cheese, cut into bite-sized ribbons
• 4 slices provolone cheese, cut into bite-sized ribbons
• 1/2 English cucumber, sliced into rounds
• 4 large red radishes, thinly sliced
• 2 small, tender stalks celery, thinly sliced on the diagonal
• 1/2 cup white or brown mushrooms, wiped clean, trimmed, halved, and sliced
• 1 small carrot, peeled and shaved into strips with a vegetable peeler
• 1 1/2 cups Croutons
• 24 cherry tomatoes, halved with a serrated knife
• 4 Hard-Boiled Eggs, cut into quarters

For serving

• Lemon Vinaigrette
• Ranch Dressing
• Blue Cheese Dressing

Wash and spin the greens dry, and cut into bite-sized pieces. Chill while preparing the other ingredients. Lay out 6 large plates. In your large salad bowl, toss the greens with a little of the lemon vinaigrette, and mound in the center of the plates. Evenly scatter all the other toppings, in the order listed, on and around the greens, letting things fall as they will, with no fussy arranging. Serve the salads immediately, passing bowls of creamy dressings and lemon vinaigrette, letting your guests drizzle their dressing of choice over their salad.