Composed Salads

Composed salads are simply arranged rather than tossed. Think of the classic Cobb Salad. Composed salads are also a great way to use leftovers. I like to take field greens or torn Romaine lettuce (and I like to tear them into small pieces...bite-sized means you shouldn't need to cut it), and toss them with a small amount of a good vinaigrette. This is the canvas for the salad. Onto this canvas you can put just about anything you'd like, arranged artfully:

* leftover grilled meats, thinly sliced

* leftover vegetables (if they had butter on them originally, you can rinse this off with warm water and then rinse again in cold to freshen the vegetables)

* canned beans of any type you like, rinsed

* canned tuna

* shredded carrots

* tomato wedges

* hard-cooked egg halves or wedges

* leftover potatoes - dice them into smaller pieces and toss them in the same vinaigrette you used with your greens

* picked beets or other pickled vegetables you like

* any kind of cheese, although my favorites are chevre or feta

Dress the whole thing up with goodies you probably have in your fridge: olives, capers, roasted red peppers, pepperoncini, etc.

Some lightly toasted pine nuts will take it right over the top!

For dressings to drizzle onto the salad, you can stick with the vinaigrette you're already using. If my composed salads contain meat, I like to make a dressing with mayonnaise that I've thinned with some of the vinaigrette, and spoon a bit of that over the meat, plus have more at the table to pass.

Composed salads look great on your prettiest plates and can be made up ahead of time and kept refrigerated until time for dinner. Add some good crusty bread and a glass of wine-- dinner is served, and you've cleaned out your refrigerator.