I could eat Main Course Salad almost everyday. And I do.

For all of you always asking what fabulous treats I make my husband for dinner when we are alone, weekdays or shabbos, the answer is: Main Course Salad. I do hope you are not disappointed, and do not feel sorry for him, especially because main course salad is his express wish. Nope: In my house, no talk of salad being girlie food, au contraire! My house is one big salad and soup bar, and when we have guests, they are mighty happy the meal, no matter how elaborate it gets, always includes salads (and soup, at dinner), lots of them.

Nothing boring whatsoever about main course salad, packed as it can get with exciting stuff. Here’s my dinner-salad trick: I include those cuts which would be too expensive or too rich to eat by themselves, and include them in a larger dish: Salad to the rescue. For example: Salade Niçoise for fish salad days, and steak salad for meat salad days. Needless to say, this goes for company as well, even more so. While it might be somewhat extravagant to make expensive tuna steaks or ribeye steaks for each guest, if you make smaller amounts and slice them into a larger salad, you end up with a glorious and elegant, and as importantly, affordable, one-dish meal. By affordable I don’t only mean what you pay, I also mean the calories, the cholesterol, the carbs, the gluten etc…We all want to eat healthy without giving up on our big favorites, so I find this the most ideal way to accomplish just this.

So here are just two of my all-time main course salad favorites: You have plenty of room for flexibility in the ingredients, so go ahead and play with your food!