Salads

An easy salad to serve with grilled chicken or steak for supper or on a bed of greens for a satisfying lunch. Substitute white beans or chickpeas for the black-eyed peas if you prefer.

With so many places to dine al fresco in and around Boston, the question is not where to picnic, but what to tuck into the basket. In the heat, mayonnaise dressing makes everyone nervous, but potato salad is a must. This French potato salad calls for mustard instead of mayo; a vinaigrette adds a piquant touch to the potatoes, here tossed with freshly picked green beans. When the potatoes are tender, toss them quickly with red onion, white wine, and vinegar. As they cool, the potatoes absorb the zippy marinade.

Think spicy tuna and a sushi bar comes to mind. But there are other ways to meld rich fish and hot condiments. One is this composed canned tuna salad, made with the same spicy sauce used in those popular sushi rolls. You can make the same dish with shrimp, grilled salmon, smoked salmon, or leftover roast striped bass. The sauce begins with ordinary mayo, to which sesame oil and a few squirts of the Thai hot sauce sriracha are mixed in - enough to make a lip-tingling, faintly pink-colored sauce.

This summer salad of red or golden beets is cool and creamy. If you use red beets, their juices will stain the horseradish mixture a faint pink color. The salad is a fine match with grilled meats and fish.

Guests won't leaf these alone! A yogurt dressing and plenty of produce keep the tangy mouthfuls light.

A riff on the traditional Italian bread salad, panzanella, this version is arranged on a platter rather than tossed. The vinaigrette, chunky with red onion, olives, and basil, pulls all the elements together.

Serves 6