Cool and Quick Salads for Summer : Dining: Make-ahead salads are the perfect warm-weather entrees.

When the weather is hot, the kitchen is hot, so use the cooler evening weather to your advantage and do most of the preparation for dinner the night before.

Make-ahead salads are a perfect choice. They’re delicious, crunchy and tempting. Best of all, they are easy to prepare and so satisfying.

Take Chicken Salad Ring, for example. It’s party-pretty and delicious enough to put in the gourmet class. While some chicken salads are too pallid to be interesting, this salad ring has a real zesty personality all its own, thanks to crushed crackers, crushed pineapple and chopped pecans. It’s a hearty main-dish salad, perfect to serve for lunch or dinner during the warm summer months. Just add rolls, iced tea or coffee and fruit and the meal is complete.

And, not only is this salad cool to eat, it’s also cool to prepare if you make it ahead and let the flavors mingle all day.

Some of the other suggestions that follow may seem a little intimidating, but there’s nothing quite like the elegance of an unmolded dish presented on a gorgeous platter. Armed with a few tips, even the novice cook can prepare molded salads with confidence and good results.

Molds are simply containers that have been specially designed to shape food. They are often made of tin-lined copper, stainless steel, porcelain or earthenware and may be ring-shaped, square, rectangular or shaped like an animal (usually a fish or lobster) or a fruit (quite often a pineapple).

As a rule, food with considerable texture is prepared in a relatively plain mold, while smoother-textured food is considered more appropriate for decorative molds with ribs, swirls or detailed shapes.

A good molded recipe for hesitant cooks is Chicken Loaf Aspic, a layer of flavorful congealed chicken crowned with another layer of spicy tomato aspic. Although the two layers give it an impressive appearance, this recipe is actually quite simple to prepare.

First, the aspic layer is made by sprinkling unflavored gelatin over vegetable cocktail juice. As the mixture heats in a saucepan, the gelatin slowly dissolves. Horseradish is added for flavoring and the tomato aspic is ready to be poured into the mold. For easier unmolding later, brush the inside of the mold with a bit of oil first.

While the aspic chills, the chicken layer is prepared. This time, the gelatin is dissolved in canned chicken broth, then heated in a saucepan. The broth is then chilled until slightly thick; a mixture of finely chopped chunk chicken, sour cream, shredded carrot, chopped green onions and horseradish is folded into the broth. The thickened chicken layer is spooned onto the aspic layer to chill at least four hours.

To unmold when thoroughly chilled, remove from the refrigerator and run a knife or metal spatula around the edges of the mold, then dip the bottom of the mold into a shallow pan of hot water several times to loosen this area. Take a chilled serving platter and place it over the open side of the mold. Hold platter and mold tightly together and invert. When you lift the mold, the food should remain on the platter. Some recommend returning the molded dish to the refrigerator to firm up after this process.

Other simple molds are Pineapple-Cheese Chicken Mold and Molded Salad Primavera.

CHICKEN SALAD RING

2 cups diced cooked chicken

22 rich flavor, rectangular-shaped crackers, finely rolled, about 1 cup crumbs

1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple

1 cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup chopped celery

1/4 cup chopped onion

2 eggs, separated

1 tablespoon parsley flakes

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Combine chicken, cracker crumbs, pineapple and juice, mayonnaise, pecans, celery, onion, egg yolks, parsley flakes and lemon juice.

Beat egg whites in medium bowl with electric mixer at medium speed, until stiff, then fold into chicken mixture. Evenly spread into greased 6-cup ring mold.

Set mold in large shallow baking pan and place in oven. Pour in hot water to about 1/4-inches deep. Bake at 350 degrees 35 to 40 minutes or until wood pick, inserted in center, comes out clean. Remove ring mold from baking pan to wire rack and let cool 10 minutes. Unmold onto serving platter and let cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic and refrigerate until serving time. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

TURKEY SPROUT SALAD

1 (8-ounce) package medium egg noodles

2 cups cooked turkey, cubed

1 cup bean sprouts

1 cup sliced mushrooms

3 hard-cooked eggs, diced

1/2 cup sliced sweet red pepper

1/2 cup cashews

1/4 cup roasted sunflower seeds

1/4 cup sliced celery

1/4 cup finely chopped green onions

Bottled Italian dressing

Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and cool in cold water. Drain again. Combine with turkey, sprouts, mushrooms, eggs, pepper, cashews, sunflower seeds, celery and green onion. Chill. Serve with dressing. Makes 8 servings.

CHICKEN LOAF ASPIC

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin

2 cups vegetable cocktail juice

2 teaspoons horseradish

1 (14 1/2-ounce) chicken broth

2 (5-ounce) cans chunk chicken, finely chopped

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup shredded carrot

1 tablespoon finely chopped green onion

Mixed salad greens

Shredded cheese

Sprinkle 1 envelope gelatin over cocktail juice in saucepan to soften. Place over low heat, stirring until gelatin is dissolved. Remove from heat and add 1 teaspoon horseradish. Pour into 6-cup mold. Chill until slightly firm.

Meanwhile, sprinkle remaining gelatin over chicken broth in saucepan to soften. Place over low heat, stirring until gelatin is dissolved. Chill until slightly thickened. Fold in chicken, sour cream carrot, green onions and remaining horseradish and spoon onto aspic layer. Chill 4 hours or until firm. Unmold onto salad greens. Garnish with shredded cheese. Makes 6 servings.

PINEAPPLE CHEESE CHICKEN MOLD

1 (3-ounce) package orange-pineapple flavored gelatin

1 cup boiling water

1 cup vegetable juice cocktail

Dash ground ginger

1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup whipping cream, whipped

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed chicken broth

1 soup can water

1 envelope unflavored gelatin

2 (5-ounce) cans chunk chicken, finely chopped

1/2 cup drained canned, crushed pineapple

Mixed salad greens

Dissolve orange-pineapple gelatin in boiling water. Add cocktail juice and ginger and chill until slightly thickened. Blend into cream cheese, then fold in whipped cream and nuts. Pour into 9x5-inch loaf pan. Chill until slightly firm.

Meanwhile, in saucepan, combine broth and water. Sprinkle unflavored gelatin over broth to soften. Place over low heat, stirring until gelatin is dissolved. Chill until slightly thickened. Fold in chicken and pineapple and spoon onto cocktail juice layer. Chill 4 hours or until firm. Unmold onto salad greens. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

MOLDED SALAD PRIMAVERA

1 (14 1/2-ounce) can chicken broth

4 teaspoons lemon juice

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin

1 cup cooked cut asparagus

2 cups vegetable juice cocktail

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves, crushed

1 (5-ounce) can chunk chicken, finely chopped

Mixed salad greens

Combine broth and 1 teaspoon lemon juice in saucepan. Sprinkle 1 envelope gelatin over broth mixture to soften, then place over low heat and stir until gelatin is dissolved. Chill until slightly thickened. Fold in asparagus and pour into 9x5-inch loaf pan. Chill until slightly firm.

Meanwhile, combine cocktail juice, thyme and remaining lemon juice. Sprinkle remaining gelatin over juice mixture to soften. Place over low heat, stirring until gelatin is dissolved. Chill until slightly thickened. Fold in chicken, then spoon onto asparagus layer. Chill 4 hours or until firm. Unmold onto salad greens, if desired. Makes 8 to 10 servings.