Salads as Good as Store-Bought

The salads, cooked foods and baked goods from the Paris food shops of renowned French pastry-maker and caterer Gaston Lenotre make bountiful buffets; they’re also great for informal meals.

These three salads, influenced by Lenotre’s style, can be made at least a day head and are appropriate for a vast range of entertaining--summer parties, picnics and barbecues.

The multicolored potato salad with vegetables and sausage can be served as a first course; it will also stand on its own as a main course for an informal lunch. A salad of shredded carrots is present at every carry-out shop in Paris; this one is greatly enhanced by toasted pine nuts.

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When fennel is blanched, it becomes incredibly sweet and delicate. As a result, this fennel salad is the simplest combination of lemon juice and olive oil, bringing out the inherent flavor of the fennel.

MULTICOLORED POTATO SALAD WITH VEGETABLES AND SAUSAGE

Salt

1 pound small white or red potatoes, quartered

2 ounces green beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces

1 small wedge cabbage

1/4 pound link smoked sausage, cooked, cut into 1/4-inch slices

1/2 medium sweet red pepper, seeded, cut into short strips

1/2 medium green pepper, seeded, cut into short strips

1/2 small red onion, sliced

2 small dill pickles, sliced crosswise

2 small tomatoes, seeded and cut into small dice

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon snipped chives

2 tablespoons minced parsley

Freshly ground pepper

Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but not soft. Remove from water with slotted spoon and put in large bowl. Add green beans to boiling water. Cook until tender but still crisp. Remove with slotted spoon and add to potatoes in bowl. Add cabbage to boiling water. Cook just until tender. Remove with slotted spoon. Cool, then cut into strips. Add to bowl along with sausage, sweet red and green peppers, onion, pickles and tomatoes. Toss gently.

Mix olive oil, vinegar, mustard and 1/4 teaspoon salt in small bowl. Add vinaigrette to large bowl and toss. Add chives, parsley and pepper to taste. Toss and serve at room temperature. Can be made day ahead and refrigerated.

Serve at room temperature. Toss well. Adjust seasonings to taste. Makes 4 servings.

Each serving contains about:

293 calories; 1,130 mg sodium; 19 mg cholesterol; 16 grams fat; 28 grams carbohydrates; 11 grams protein; 1.39 grams fiber.

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This salad improves with time; it absorbs the flavor of the pine nuts in a most enticing way.

SHREDDED CITRUS CARROT SALAD WITH PINE NUTS

2 tablespoons pine nuts

1 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled, trimmed, cut in pieces to fit horizontally into processor feed tube

1/4 cup fresh orange juice

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper

Toast pine nuts on baking sheet at 350 degrees until light-brown in color, few minutes. Set aside.

Shred carrots into long, fine shreds either with fine shredding disk of food processor or on mandoline. Place in medium-sized bowl.

Add toasted pine nuts, orange juice, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Toss. Can be made 2 days ahead and refrigerated.

To serve, toss well and drain off excess juices. Adjust seasonings to taste. Can be served chilled or at room temperature. Makes 4 servings.

Each serving contains about:

166 calories; 207 mg sodium; trace cholesterol; 10 grams fat; 20 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams protein; 1.82 grams fiber.

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In this recipe, the quality of the olive oil is of utmost importance.

SIMPLE FENNEL SALAD

Salt

2 medium fennel bulbs, stems trimmed, bulbs sliced lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Freshly ground pepper

1 tablespoon snipped fennel greens

1 tablespoon snipped chives

Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Add fennel and cook until core is tender but not soft, 3 to 5 minutes. Use slotted spoon to remove from water and dry well. Place in medium-sized bowl.

Immediately add oil, lemon juice, scant 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Toss well. Can be served immediately or refrigerated as long as 2 days.

Serve at room temperature. Toss with fennel greens and chives. Adjust seasonings to taste. Makes 4 servings.

Each serving contains about:

104 calories; 317 mg sodium; trace cholesterol; 10 grams fat; 4 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams protein; 0.03 gram fiber.

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