Mixed Lettuces and Greens with Garlic Chapons

This is a good basic salad recipe, but what makes it special is the careful consideration of how a salad should be prepared (pages 136-138). I tried chilling the bowl - something I have not done before, and I swear it really did make the salad appear fresher for longer. For me, this will be an especially useful trick in our hot dry Utah summers.

I have been making croutons this way for a long time, but I didn't realize they had a fancy name! They are very easy to make, and I'll have to remember to throw together this simple salad whenever I have a bit of crusty bread going stale.

This is just a simple salad with a simple dressing (the kind of dressing I usually make), but it tastes really good. I love the garlic chapons and what they add to the salad. I used red wine vinegar. I served it with some bean soup and they went really well together.