Place the thinly sliced cucumbers in a large mixing bowl.  In another bowl, combine the sour cream, shallots, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.  Mix well.  Add the sour cream mixture to the cucumbers and toss to coat.  Serve on its own or on a bed of lettuce.

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add the beets and boil until fork tender, about 45 to 60 minutes depending on the size of the beets. Drain and set aside until cool enough to handle.

While the beets are cooling, make the vinaigrette.  In a blender combine the vinegar, mustard, shallot, lemon juice, thyme, salt, and pepper.  With the machine running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until emulsified. Set aside.
After beets have cooled, gently remove their skin using your finger tips.  Thinly slice each beet.  Place the beets and the red onions in a medium bowl and gently toss with the vinaigrette. Set aside, covered at room temperature for at least one hour and up to four hours.

To serve, evenly divide the arugula onto serving plates.  Top the arugula with the beet and onion mixture.  Sprinkle the top of each salad with bleu cheese and toasted walnuts.  Drizzle the arugula with any leftover vinaigrette to taste.

In a food processor, combine the lemon juice, mustard, garlic, anchovies, and egg yolk. Pulse until blended. With the machine running, pour in the olive oil until emulsified. Stir in the Parmesan, pepper, and salt.

Toss dressing and romaine lettuce until evenly coated. Garnish with Parmesan shavings.

In a large bowl, toss fennel, fronds, onion, and orange with olive oil and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.

In a large bowl, mix the lemon juice, mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, sugar, salt, and pepper. Stir in the shrimp, celery, and scallions. Serve on mini brioche buns or regular brioche buns cut into quarters.

Combine the lettuce and herbs in a medium bowl.  In a glass jar or plastic container with a tight-fitting lid combine the olive oil, vinegar, Dijon mustard, shallots, salt, and pepper. Shake to combine. Pour over the salad and toss. Serve immediately.

Whenever I’m ordering room service at hotels, I order a club sandwich.  They’re pretty consistent, so it’s usually a safe choice.  The best room service club sandwich is at the Ritz Carlton on Central Park in New York City.  They use all of the traditional elements of a club sandwich, but add avocado.  I think it might be the only room service food I’ve ever craved.  I decided to try making their sandwich into a salad at home.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Drizzle chicken breasts with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Roast until cooked all the way through, about 30 minutes.  Let cool to touch.  Remove skin and cut chicken into chunks. Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until crispy. Drain on paper towels. Let cool to touch then crumble.

In a large mixing bowl, combine avocado and lemon juice.  Add chicken, bacon, mayonnaise, scallions, mustard, parsley, salt, and pepper.  Stir until combined.  Serve on a bed of lettuce garnished with tomato wedges.

For the fruit salad: In a large bowl, toss together all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

For the custard: Prepare an ice-water bath.

Place the milk in a double boiler with one inch of warm water in the bottom. Slice open the vanilla bean lengthwise, scrape the seeds into the milk, and discard bean. Heat the double boiler over medium heat until milk is steaming but not boiling. Turn off the heat. Combine 1/4 cup of the warm milk with the eggs yolks in a small bowl, stirring constantly. Add another 1/4 cup of milk, stirring constantly to warm the egg yolks. Pour the egg-and-milk mixture into the milk in the double boiler. Stir in the sugar. Turn on the heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens slightly, about 10 minutes. The
custard should be about the consistency of a creamy salad dressing and thickly coat the back of a wooden spoon.

When the custard mixture is thick, remove from heat and put the top of the double boiler in the ice-water bath. Stir in the nutmeg. When the custard is cool, drizzle over individual servings of fruit salad and serve extra custard on the side.

This recipe was inspired by my mother, who asks me almost daily, “have you had your greens yet today?”  I grow basil in my garden and I always have a surplus, so I make this pesto often.  By combining the basil with spinach, I am sneaking in another leafy green vegetable.  The pesto freezes nicely, so if your garden is over-run with basil like mine is, make extra and freeze it in ice cube trays.  You can pop out cubes for individual servings later.  This pasta salad is great on any summer buffet.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add pasta and cook according to package instructions.  Drain and set aside in a large bowl.

Meanwhile, in a food processor, combine spinach, basil, garlic, nutmeg, and pine nuts.  Process until finely chopped.  With the motor running, slowly pour in olive oil until combined.  Transfer the mixture to a small bowl and stir in Parmesan, salt, and pepper.

Add the assorted blanched vegetables and pesto to the pasta in the large bowl. Stir until well combined. Garnish with freshly grated Parmesan. Serve immediately.

In a large pot of boiling salted water cook the broccoli until it is just tender, about 5 to 6 minutes.  Cool in ice water for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain well.

In a large salad bowl combine broccoli, grapes, raisins, scallions, and pecans.  In a separate bowl, mix all of the dressing ingredients.  Add the dressing to the broccoli and toss to coat.  Top with crumbled bacon and serve.