I love the fresh sophisticated flavors of this salad but my favorite part is the eews and aahhs that I get when I serve it with a big beautiful curl of authentic Parmigiano-Reggiano. The trick is easy. Buy an uncut chunk of fresh Parmigiano and using a sharp vegetable peeler, “peel” a thin piece of the cheese from the chunk in one motion and Viola! You’ve got a fancy restaurant Parmesan Curl!

Since everyone expects to top a great Caesar salad with grilled chicken, we are offering this unexpected variation: a shrimp version of the very popular Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad. It’s great for people who prefer shrimp to chicken or for those that want a change of taste! Buy the raw IQF (Individually Quick Frozen) jumbo shrimp and keep in the freezer so you can be at the ready to make it for any last minute drop-in guests or yourself!

Mango adds a cooling sweet tartness to this traditional Mexican combination of citrus and jicama. The grating of the jicama gives this cool side dish the texture of an American slaw and is a welcome change from the cabbage and mayo slaws that we eat all summer!

This is my all-time favorite salad. The warm asparagus wilts the peppery arugula and melds all the flavors. Be sure to use Parmigiano Reggiano from Italy and fresh squeezed lemon juice. Because the salad is so simple, all the ingredients need to be the best they can be.

Panzanella is served in Tuscany all summer long. It’s a meal in itself on a hot summer day and we can’t think of a better way to use the bounty of local produce. The substance of the salad comes from grilled bread which is tossed with lots of grilled garden vegetables and traditional Tuscan flavors of green olive oil, capers, black olives and Balsamic vinegar. The girls like serving it in hollowed out red and yellow peppers just because it looks so pretty!

This is my shrimp version of the very popular grilled chicken Caesar salad because the girls prefer shrimp to chicken! Buy the Jumbo frozen shrimp and keep in the freezer so you can be at the ready to make it for any of you last minute drop-in guests.

The all-American meal is a steak and a salad. Why not combine the two for a lighter and more economical version of a backyard classic. This is particularly well-suited for a lunch or party when you are looking for a one-dish menu.

This is best served warm or at room temperature. If you make it the day before, take it out of the refrigerator and let it come up to room temperature before serving.

Grilling the watermelon adds a smoky note that turns the watermelon from sweet to savory and the heat concentrates the flavor. Dressed with a mixture of fresh lime and fresh orange juice re-creates the sour oranges of the Caribbean and balances the sweet watermelon. Finally, the fresh mint cools the heat of the cayenne pepper and makes the grilled watermelon salad refreshing and perfect for the dog-days of summer! If you want it to be more substantial, add the sprinkle of crumbled feta for a new-wave Greek salad!

Have you ever noticed that a salad tastes better in France or Italy or a fancy restaurant? This always perplexed me until recently (two days ago, actually). When I lived in France, I fell in love with the “salade vert” eaten at the end of the meal, or my case as a meal despite some occasional looks of incredulity! So, when I returned to the States, I began my humble 20-year search for the perfect salade vert recipe. I took lessons in mastering a perfect vinaigrette, imported true Dijon mustard from France, bought the most tender lettuce known as Boston or Butter or the new Hydroponic lettuce and nothing got close until this accidental experiment! My favorite olive oil from Italy had just showed up in my local grocery store, so I immediately bought a bottle, and even though I really wanted to drink the fruity, green, fragrant stuff out of the bottle, I thought better of it and decided to make a simple salad so I could really taste the olive oil. I washed and dried Boston lettuce, s