Cool your meals

At this time of year, salads should get tossed from "side dish" to "main dish" on your home menu.

A bounty of fresh vegetables and fruits arrives daily in local stores, farmers' markets – and your own backyard garden.

Take leftover grilled meats, fish or seafood and add them to your salads to give them a protein punch. For meatless eaters, that might mean a can of beans (garbanzo, black, cannellini) and choice cheeses.

Create fabulous entree salads that will keep your oven off and turn your taste buds on.

Pair salads with a baguette and a glass of wine or iced tea, and you're in business – for less than $15 for a dinner for two.

With leftovers.

Nancy LaNasa, who lives in Sacramento's Land Park neighborhood, advises salad makers "to have crazy fun with them."

Shopping recently for fixins' at the neighborhood Taylor's Market, LaNasa already had a bag of organic herb salad mix and several veggies in her basket.

"I'm originally from New Orleans, so I treat salads like gumbo. I just make up different combinations," she says.

LaNasa, a vegetarian, buys "locally responsible" produce (no pesticides) and has been a member of the Davis Co-op for 10 years.

Avocados and baby arugula are two of her favorites.

Restaurants also make full use of the summer bounty as menus change to take advantage of what's available.

Biba Caggiano, owner of Biba in midtown Sacramento, sent us her July menu, which includes four salads with ingredients like roasted beets, Maui onions, basil, cucumbers, romaine lettuce and, of course, tomatoes.

"I'm a firm believer in going with the season," she says. "When it's hot, I tell my husband, 'I'm not cooking tonight!'

"I'm also looking for dishes that don't take much time."

One of Caggiano's favorite summer salads is her Panzanella Toscana, a Tuscan blend of tomatoes, olives, onion, cucumber, basil and grilled bread with extra-virgin olive oil.

"It has lots of good things in it," she says.

Caggiano hits farmers markets early and often, scooping up summer tomatoes – green, red, yellow – and cutting them into wedges, drizzling olive oil and topping "with any kind of cheese you like."

Basil is her favorite herb in the summer but, if you've got your own green thumb, toss in some flat-leaf parsley and fresh oregano.

"You eat well, and you don't spend time in the kitchen," Caggiano says of salads.

The West Coast doesn't have a monopoly on summer salads – or the stuff that goes in them.

A new book, "Summer on a Plate" (Simon & Schuster, $23, 235 pages), features a variety of salad entrees, including Asian-Flavor Beef, Pepper and Spinach Salad.

Co-author Anna Pump also owns a specialty foods store in the Hamptons, where salads to go are the most popular item this season.

Pump says she created the "pumped-up" salads – those with chicken, beef and unusual blends of lettuce – because they make "totally fulfilling meals."

Her grilled chicken salad combines a chicken breast, arugula, sugar snap peas, red onion and a tasty sherry vinegar/sesame oil dressing.

"It's got a little kick to it," she says over the phone, "but we like it."

Like Caggiano, Pump uses a bouquet of herbs in her salads and dressings, which are made by the gallon daily.

"Herbs are the best thing that has ever been grown," she says. "I use lots of basil and dill. And I love tarragon on grilled chicken or beef. You can throw an extra piece of chicken on the grill when you're barbecuing. Then, slice it warm and serve in a salad, or let it chill and use the next day."

Don't turn up your nose to beets in salads. They're full of vitamins and antioxidants. You just have to work with them a bit.

Pump's method of cooking beets? Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Rub the beets with olive oil, wrap in aluminum foil (stems and tips attached), place in a roasting pan and cook for 30 to 60 minutes (depending on the size) until tender.

When they're cool, the peel will slip right off and they're ready to eat.

Greens are still plentiful. But step outside the iceberg lettuce bin and try a different version: Radicchio, butter, romaine (for its crunchiness) are good options.

Sometimes, just perusing the produce aisle or the farmers' market can inspire salad ideas.

For example, Sarah Carey, food and entertaining editor at Martha Stewart Living magazine, is "going green" – but in a different way.

"I really like green beans and zucchini, blanched (or grilled)," she says from New York. "Toss in some baby carrots, shaved radishes, fennel and a light cucumber dressing, and it's a meal."

Carey uses whatever's in her home fridge for dinner.

"I can get by with a salad of romaine and butter lettuce, a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice, black pepper and shaved parmesan."

She's even been known to turn leftover pasta into a cold salad.

"If you're not a meat eater, put in a grain, like rice, to your salad," Carey says. "Serve a grilled rustic bread with a piece of cheese on the side, and that's dinner."

All the experts agree that salads shouldn't be overdressed. You can always add more, but you can't take it away.

"Start with 1 1/2 to two teaspoons to 1 1/2 cups of lettuces and veggies," Carey says of dressing. "Go from there for taste."

Homemade dressings are best. The base is usually extra-virgin olive oil whisked with either lemon juice or a vinegar (balsamic, sherry, red or white wine), garlic, a pinch of sugar, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Use in one sitting or store at room temperature. Chilling the dressing can cause the oils to congeal.

"Spend $2 more on a very good red-wine vinegar and you'll have something with taste," says Caggiano.

"That's the beauty of summer. It should be very little work to enjoy a good meal."

About the writer:

• Call The Bee's Leigh Grogan, (916) 321-1129.