Today salads are a course in a meal or they can be the main course. The wide variety of fresh vegetables, fruits, pastas, cheeses, fish, meats, eggs, and poultry allow countless choices. You will find a wide selection here.

If you are serving a green salad do not settle for just iceberg lettuce with tomato slices. Iceberg lettuce has a very mild bland flavor compared to other varieties. So add some other salad greens. Those usually available include Boston lettuce, Belgian endive, romaine, fresh spinach, watercress, and many others.

You can also add slices of red onion, olives, sliced mushrooms, chunks of cheese, etc. There are many varieties of salad dressings available. Use a simple oil and vinegar, or experiment with any of the commercial varieties available.

Pasta and seafood salads are frequently used as the main course at luncheons. Salads should always be served chilled, but make sure they are not ice cold. The taste is spoiled if served ice cold.

You can also add strips of ham, pieces of cooked chicken, radishes, cucumbers, pieces of cooked beef, cooked turkey, etc. If you are including tomato wedges in you salad, you might wish to add them last after all the other ingredients have been tossed, to prevent them from breaking up.

Salads present a great opportunity to combine crisp and different textures, tastes, and ingredients with a variety of salad dressings. This is an area for you to be adventurous as you can hardly go wrong.