Salad

This reduced-fat version hits all the flavor notes of the original Caeser.

Add the grated peel from half an orange to the dressing if you want a more intense orange flavor in the salad.

Good cooks never discard the nutritious beet greens. Here, the greens are combined with roasted beets, capers and feta in a Greek-inspired salad. Offer this before roast leg of lamb with crisp potatoes.

The warm goat cheese toasts make delicious croutons for the salad, but they would also be an easy hors d'oeuvre.

For a colorful presentation, serve the salad in red cabbage leaves.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

I hated this salad when I was growing up: It was pink, had too many ingredients in it, and my very Southern family loved it — three good reasons to abstain. During Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, my mother would always go back for seconds, chiming, "You don't know what you're missing." But I knew, all right — an unappealing mishmash of canned fruit and mayonnaise. No thanks. However, as I've grown older my family's "Southern classics" don't embarrass me as much. I've actually eaten this salad many times as an adult, and though I'm not saying it's my favorite, sometimes I need seconds to be sure.

At the restaurant, this vinaigrette is also used as a marinade for grilled chicken.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Eating your spinach (and radicchio) has never been more pleasant.