I still remember the first time I gently suggested we throw a little black pepper and lemon juice on Mount Lettuce. It was as though I had personally killed Elvis. "Why would you want to do that?" my mother shrieked with her hands on her chest as if expecting a heart attack or a visit from the King himself. "Your father grew those tomatoes in the yard. The lettuce is fresh from last week. And you know how your sister loves raw onions! Dressing would kill the flavor!"

I had early-childhood salad phobia. Needless to say, my ravishing radishes, it took a long time to get over. First I had to discover the other lettuces. I started slowly with romaine, eased my way into Boston and then branched out to red-leaf. Then it was time to get wild with arugula, endive, spinach and bok choy. After that came the toppings—fried wontons, toasted pecans, pencil-asparagus, baguette croutons (round croutons, not cubes!), grilled pears and lots and lots of crumbled cheeses—goat to blue to feta. It was as though the world had opened before me.

I decided that this would be my mission: To remove the trauma of early salad abuse and show my brothas and sistas that there can be pleasure and flavor in salad...that salads can actually be...sexy!

Listen my little croutonettes, we've all had our sad salad stories, but it's time to move on. There's a whole world of yummy, zany, sexy salads just waiting to be made. Without further tossing, I give you some easy, breezy recipes guaranteed to make you turn green (you'll love it; trust me).

Sexy Salads and Dressings:
Feed-the-Whole-Family Tuna Nicoise Salad More Than a Greek Salad Crazy Catsup Dressing Great Miso Dressing