There is nothing quite like the taste of a large, green salad with fresh, locally-grown vegetables. This one takes advantage of tender, buttery lettuce, bracingly crisp cucumbers, and juicy tomatoes that taste like distilled sunshine. There are not many rules when it comes to making this salad, but it is essential to thoroughly wash and dry all of the vegetables to remove dirt and other impurities. You may substitute or add a few of your own selections to the list of vegetables. Make sure to serve the salad well chilled to keep it crisp and refreshing.

Ingredients:

Chunky Blue Cheese Dressing:
1^1/2 cups mayonnaise
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
5 dashes Tabasco sauce
1^1/2 cups crumbled blue cheese
Salad:
2 heads Boston lettuce, washed and torn into pieces
1 cup chopped purple cabbage
2 pickling cucumbers, peeled and sliced
2 field-grown tomatoes, cut into wedges
5 large red radishes, thinly sliced
1 rib celery, sliced
1 bunch scallions, sliced
1 carrot, peeled and sliced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced into strips
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and sliced into strips
1 cup yellow cherry tomatoes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1^1/2 cups crunchy croutons (from Vidalia Onion soup recipe)
Blue cheese dressing (from recipe), to taste

Directions:

For the blue cheese dressing: In a mixing bowl place the mayonnaise, buttermilk, sour cream, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and Tabasco sauce. Whisk to combine. Add the blue cheese and whisk again until everything is mixed but the blue cheese remains chunky. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. Makes 1 quart

For the salad: Line a salad bowl with the lettuce leaves. Arrange the cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes, celery, scallions, carrot, red and yellow peppers, and yellow tomatoes on top so the different colors are visible. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the croutons and toss with blue cheese dressing.

Makes 6 servings.  Use leftover blue cheese dressing as a dip for raw vegetables, or an accompaniment to spicy Buffalo wings.