Land of Many Salads

Because of our warm climate and fresh produce, Southern Californians have been the nation’s greatest salad eaters since the turn of the century. In the days when “salad” meant fruit, tuna, potato or egg salad to most Americans, we popularized the Caesar salad: romaine and croutons with an eggy vinaigrette and shaved Parmesan. When simple green salad became popular, we made it our universal appetizer. The Cobb salad (chopped chicken, avocado, tomatoes and bacon on lettuce with Roquefort dressing) was born here, and many say the Chinese chicken salad was too.

But there’s always room for another. Local chefs and The Times Test Kitchen have come up with a recipe for the perfect summer salad. H8