Big salad recipes for easy weeknight dinners

After sitting down to dinner at a friend’s house a couple of days ago, I was confronted with something I hadn’t seen in a month: a big leafy green salad. Because of traveling on the East Coast, and eating out so much, I had forgotten the homey joys of a giant bowl packed with salad greens, various chopped vegetables and fruit, some cheese, nuts and seeds, etc. I promptly stuffed large forkfuls in my mouth, relishing the crunch of the lettuce spines while the bracing vinaigrette stung the corners of my lips. It was as good a welcome back to California as I can imagine.

To keep riding that salad high, I’ll be making riffs on substantial dinner salads all week, starting with this Chopped Pear Salad With Buttermilk Dressing that’s packed with fat cubes of pear and Gruyère cheese and topped with walnuts