Salad Dressing

Old-fashioned green goddess dressing tastes as good today as it did back in the twenties, when it was invented. It's a delicious partner for mixed greens, chicken salad, cold poached salmon and sliced tomatoes.

This salad's delicious dressing is popular with my children as a dip for vegetables (I make a bottle of it to keep in the refrigerator). The salad is great for lunch boxes, or as a side dish served warm or cold. Use three-color pasta, if possible. Preparation: 10 minutes/Cooking: 12 minutes Nutritional information: Rich source of beta-carotene, fiber, and folic acid

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Try this simple but flavorful dressing over tossed greens, too.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This is a good one for potato salad, too.

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 45 min (includes cooling onion)

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

A quick-to-make vinaigrette that's great tossed with greens and poured over steamed vegetables or orange slices. Present it in an antique glass cruet.

For crunchy greens (escarole and romaine), try this all-purpose dressing.

Rather than making herbs part of a green salad, why not make these fresh, flavorful greens the salad. The idea comes from Paris chef Alain Passard, who years ago served me an all-tarragon salad at his Left Bank restaurant, Arpège. When tarragon is fresh in the market or your garden overflows with this extraordinarily powerful herb, why not serve it with honor as a salad on its own? Years later Passard expanded what I call "the tarragon tangle" to a full-scale mixed herb salad—just a few well-dressed bites on a small salad plate—as an accompaniment. The idea really is to mix and match judiciously. Just don't use so many herbs that they lose their personality. Good combinations include parsley, mint, and tarragon. Or consider an all-mint salad to accompany grilled lamb, an all-tarragon salad to accompany grilled chicken, a sage-heavy salad to accompany roast pork. Other herbs that can be added to the following salad mix include a very judicious addition of hyssop, sage, chervil, and marjoram. Just be sure to include leaves only—no cheating—leaving all stems behind!

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.