Free Get Cooking: 150 Simple Recipes to Get You Started in the Kitchen by Mollie Katzen

romaine in a sealed pack, you can skip the washing; just cut off the stems and separate the leaves.)
     
    3. Shortly before serving, transfer the entire batch of dressing to the salad bowl (a wide, shallow one works very well for this). Break or cut the romaine leaves into bite-sized pieces, and add them to the dressing in the bowl. Begin turning the leaves with salad servers or tongs, sprinkling in the Parmesan cheese as you turn. The leaves will begin to get coated with the dressing. When they are mostly coated, grind in a generous amount of black pepper, then continue turning until everything is nicely combined. Toss in the croutons at the very end, and serve.
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    GET CREATIVE
You can add whole anchovies to the salad, or up to 1 tablespoon anchovy paste to the dressing. If using either, omit the salt.
Top each serving with strips or chunks of Pan-Grilled Boneless Chicken Breasts (Chapter 6: Chicken, Fish, and Meat) or chunks of Poached Salmon (Chapter 6: Chicken, Fish, and Meat). Both are great hot, warm, or cold.
Toss in some torn or coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley, or sprinkle it on top.
For a fun change of pace, Parmesan Fricos (Chapter 1: Soups) can replace both the Parmesan in the salad and the croutons.
Top each serving with a still-warm, freshly poached egg.
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    greek salad with oregano-laced vinaigrette
    Makes 2 to 3 large dinner-sized salads, or 4 to 6 smaller side salads
     
    T he quintessential Greek salad: fresh greens tossed with Greek olives, onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and feta cheese, in a delicious vinaigrette. The salad greens can be a packaged salad mix or your favorite lettuces—on their own or combined with baby spinach leaves and some arugula. Spinach fans, try this with all baby spinach leaves. The dressing keeps for weeks in a tightly lidded jar in the refrigerator and is wonderful on any kind of cooked vegetables, especially broccoli and green beans.

    oregano-laced vinaigrette
    3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
    ¼ teaspoon minced garlic (about half a small clove)
    1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
    1 teaspoon dried oregano
    Heaping 1/8 teaspoon salt
    5 tablespoons olive oil
    salad
    1 pound salad greens, washed and thoroughly dried (or use three 5-ounce packages)
    About 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
    1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and sliced
    1 medium bell pepper (any color), diced
    1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
    1 cup crumbled feta cheese
    About 12 Kalamata olives
    Freshly ground black pepper
    1. To make the dressing, combine the vinegar, garlic, mustard, oregano, and salt in a smallish bowl. Whisk until thoroughly combined, then continue whisking as you drizzle in the olive oil. When all the olive oil is incorporated, set the dressing aside. (Or you can put all the ingredients in a small jar with a tight-fitting lid and just shake it emphatically.)
     
    2. Combine the salad greens, tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, onion, and ½ cup of the feta in a large bowl, and toss to mix well.
     
    3. Just before serving, whisk the dressing—or shake it, if it’s in a jar—to recombine, and add about half of it to the salad. Toss to coat, and give it a taste. You might want to add the rest of the dressing right now, or bring it to the table (along with the pepper mill) for people to add more to their own portions. Top with the remaining ½ cup feta, the olives, and a few grinds of black pepper, and serve immediately.
    GET CREATIVE
Use high-quality olive oil in the dressing.
Make the dressing with a fancier variety of wine vinegar (such as sherry vinegar or Spanish Moscatel vinegar).
Toss in a few tablespoons of chopped mint leaves.
Use a “designer” flavored mustard in the dressing.
Serve with toasted pita wedges.
Drape a few whole anchovies over the top of the assembled salad.
Top the assembled salad with some flaked canned tuna (especially good with tuna packed in olive oil).
Toss in a handful or two of canned black beans, white beans, or chickpeas (rinsed and drained).
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