Salad/2 recipes

Fruit salad with plums, peaches, bananas, and grapes dressed in hot pepper-infused champagne and rice milk. A dairy-free salad with unexpected heat and elegance.

Cottage cheese Jello salad with dry orange Jello powder, crushed pineapple, mandarin oranges, and whipped cream. No boiling, no setting time. A fluffy, creamy retro potluck side ready in 10 minutes.

German-style red beet salad marinated in vinegar, caraway seeds, horseradish, and cloves. Tangy, earthy, and best after soaking for several hours.

Composed romaine and watercress salad plated over Belgian endive spears with a savory basil anchovy sauce. An elegant, restaurant-style first course.

Cold vermicelli tossed in a creamy lemon-garlic tahini dressing with olive oil. A 30-minute Mediterranean-inspired noodle salad that works as a side or light vegetarian main.

Caribbean shrimp and black bean salad: poached pink shrimp ringed around a chilled black bean salad punched up with picante, lime, honey, cilantro, and red onion. Make-ahead summer plate.

German-style cabbage fruit salad with shredded cabbage, diced apple, raisins, and a creamy pineapple-lemon sour cream dressing. No cooking, ready in 10 minutes.

Madison Avenue potato salad: cooked potatoes marinated in vinaigrette, then tossed with ripe olives, hard-cooked eggs, dill pickles, pimientos, and a mustard-spiked mayo. A dressed-up deli-counter classic.

Pineapple salad with tart apple and scallions on romaine, dressed in a soy sauce and brown sugar vinaigrette with lemon juice. A sweet-savory fruit salad in 20 minutes.

English walnut salad tosses red lettuce, watercress, and arugula with whole walnuts in a walnut oil and olive oil vinaigrette with red wine vinegar. Nutty, peppery, and elegant.

Avocado halves filled with crabmeat salad, topped with chopped egg and garnished with anchovies, pimiento, and olives. Served with a tarragon-chervil herbed mayonnaise dressing on the side.

Celery seed dressing blends sugar, lemon juice, cider vinegar, and dry mustard with oil into a sweet-tangy emulsion with whole celery seeds. A classic for fruit and spinach salads.

Salad with warm goat cheese: crumb-coated Montrachet rounds fried to a golden crust over tender greens in a champagne-cider vinaigrette. A French bistro classic worth every step.

Classic potato salad: the church-supper, picnic-table original. Cubed potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, crunchy celery and onion, all dressed with a tangy mayo-vinegar binder. Six pantry ingredients.

Raw fennel, mushroom, and shaved Parmesan salad with a garlic-lemon vinaigrette and crushed fennel seeds. Mushrooms marinate for an hour, then get layered with paper-thin fennel and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

A big hit, it is almost the most excelllecnt pasta salad I have ever eaten. I think I will make it more and more!