Salad

If you can't find yellow pear or yellow cherry tomatoes, use all red cherry tomatoes to make this colorful and refreshing salad.

Joan Nathan's The Foods of Israel Today is full of intensely flavored recipes, such as this salad. Grab a copy now, while so many fresh vegetables are available.

Arugula's bold flavor and the texture of curly frisée team up in this simple salad.

We liked fleur de sel or Malden flaked sea salt best in this recipe, though other types work fine. If using coarse sea salt instead of flaked or fine, crush it lightly.

A composed salad that features all the bright and pretty colors of the season.

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 30 min

When preparing bread salad, do not drizzle with oil and vinegar until just before serving, or the bread cubes will become soggy.

Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 1 hr

Franklin serves this dish like a green salad, but it's also

Gay Koenemann of Bonn, Germany, had dinner at 300 East Boulevard on a recent trip to Charlotte, North Carolina. There he was treated to the most exquisite salad he'd ever had. Although the restaurant calls it Fall Salad on the menu, it's enjoyable year-round. Dried cranberries would make a good alternative to the dried cherries.

Smoked duck adds elegance to this salad. Smoked turkey would also work well.

Gorgonzola cheese adds zip to this salad.

Linda Forst of Mukilteo, Washington, writes: "I attended a conference in Anaheim, California, and went to dinner at Catal Restaurant & Uva Bar in Downtown Disney. The whole meal was outstanding, especially the 'compressed salad.'" For a "compressed" presentation, the chef uses a three-inch ring mold to mound the salad in the center of each plate. You can use a cleaned-out can, with top and bottom removed, as a mold.

"I am 76 and consider myself a very good cook," writes Dorothy Harley of Norco, California. "I've always looked forward to receiving your magazine. Some recipes I try, love, and make over and over. One recipe I remember most is a shrimp and avocado salad. For our 25th anniversary, I cleaned and cooked 25 pounds of shrimp myself for the dish — it was a hit. And for my daughter's wedding, 21 years ago, I made it again. I'm sure that if you reprinted the recipe, you'd receive praise." Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 25 hr (includes marinating)

Serve with crusty bread to sop up the juices.

Try this with ciabatta or whole wheat bread.

Even the ranch dressing gets a Cajun kick in this lively main-course salad.