Romaine

The salty anchovies complement the briny sweetness of the crabmeat. Buttermilk lightens the dressing and makes this version of the classic Caesar especially delicious.

Serve with: Fresh sugar snap peas, grape tomato salad, and dinner rolls.

White corn, cilantro and jalapeño chili give the classic Caesar a Texas accent.

A pretty and refreshing composed salad that can be made using only one skillet.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Vinegar and mustard give the dressing in this salad an assertive flavor that contrasts nicely with the sweetness of the beets.

The traditional apple, walnut and chopped celery salad is updated with a yogurt and low-fat mayonnaise citrus dressing, pine nuts and Cajun seasoning.

Beets--both pickled and boiled--have long been a popular German side dish for meats. The sour cream dressing gets a kick from vinegar and mustard.

The chef's salad is a familiar yet fading star in the salad world. In delicatessens, diners, and airport snack bars everywhere, we find its faithful components: lifeless leaves of iceberg lettuce, suspiciously blue-hued slices of hard-boiled egg, wedges of pallid tomato, and rubbery chunks of cheese, ham, and turkey. To top it all off (or perhaps sitting alongside): gloppy, high-calorie dressing. But this still-beloved salad may have had a noble beginning. Though nobody has ever stepped forward to claim the title of the chef in "chef's salad," the dish has been attributed by some food historians to Louis Diat, chef of The Ritz-Carlton in New York City in the early 1940s. He paired watercress with halved hard-boiled eggs and julienne strips of smoked tongue, ham, and chicken. (The concept of the chef’s salad dates still earlier; one seventeenth-century English recipe for a "grand sallet" calls for lettuce, roast meat, and a slew of vegetables and fruits.) No matter how the salad has evolved, its underlying virtue remains unchanged. This is a no-cook meal that satisfies our cravings for greens and protein. And, in these dog days of summer-when cooking is sometimes the last thing we'd like to do-a main-course salad is especially appealing. In our updated take on the classic recipe, we used a selection of lettuces (early chef's salads were not always made with iceberg alone), and, in a twist on the norm, small but flavorful amounts of sugar-cured ham and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Feel free to improvise with ingredients depending on what looks good at your farmers market. Summer savory or dill can flavor the dressing in place of the mixed herbs, and many kinds of ham and cheese will work well.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Roasting the garlic for the dressing sweetens it and softens its pungency. By the way, our interpretation of this salad did omit one traditional element—there is no raw egg in it, in keeping with modern health concerns.

Shake up some Margaritas (limeade for the kids) and slather grilled corn on the cob with cumin-seasoned butter. For dessert, top fudge brownies with coffee ice cream and Kahlúa.

You can substitute flour tortillas for lavash.