Salad

This highly riffable dinner salad features cubes of leftover polenta, tossed in Parmesan, and crisped in a skillet for croutons that are naturally gluten-free, delightfully crunchy on the outside, and warm and creamy on the inside.

This salad evolved from my father’s favorite road-trip snack—carrot sticks with roasted almonds, lemon juice, and salt. I’ve punched it up with fresh ginger, lots of parsley, and dates.

We tend to favor pickles that are bright with acid and low on sugar; anything labeled “half-sour” usually fits the bill. If using sweeter pickles, add a bit more vinegar and salt.

You need a bigger bowl and more water than you might think to rehydrate wood ear mushrooms—they nearly triple in size.

This pickle brine–inspired dry rub turns potatoes and carrots crispy-creamy with pleasantly sharp vinegary tang. Toss them, still warm, with leftover shredded chicken and crunchy raw celery, onion, and yes, sliced pickles for a double-the-pickle, double-the-fun dinner salad.

In this spicy salad, cubes of fried tofu act like tender-bellied croutons amid the leaves of baby kale, only with much more protein and spunk than the usual toasted bread.

A punchy, chile-spiked fish sauce vinaigrette works as both marinade and dressing for glass noodles and handfuls of basil and cucumber.

One bowl and one baking sheet is all you need to achieve sweet, creamy squash, crispy pita chips, and chewy, charred cheese. Fresh mint and a splash of vinegar perk up the final dish.

In this salad, the color palette—pale whites and browns—may leave something to be desired, but the gorgeous medley of textures and very complementary flavors makes up for it. This is an attractive one to serve for a dinner party.

This salad is palate-cleansing and refreshing. A little spicy, a little tart—and you can prep it in advance.

Massage kale and brussels sprouts in a sweet, tangy dressing of rice vinegar, soy sauce, and honey, then serve it with creamy hummus and jammy eggs.

Not pasta salad—it’s salad pasta. A whole salad’s worth of greens, folded into pasta to make a complete dinner in one bowl.

This holiday-buffet-ready salad has bright Asian pear, salty aged cheese, a dynamic pecan dressing, and hardy radicchio that refuses to wilt.

We’ve never met a riff on larb that we didn’t like, including this version, which forgoes the typical meat or fish for crispy shiitake mushrooms.