The Minimalist–101 simple salads

I love Mark Bittman. His recipe ideas are truly simple, practical and mostly fast. He seems to get what it means to put a healthy dinner on the table every night.

His 101 recipe articles in the New York Times are always a highlight. Last week he published 101 simple salads for the season. There are lots of great ideas for simple summer meals. The best part is that you could put almost any one of them on a pizza.

Try it. Take #10: Cook whole grape tomatoes in olive oil over high heat until they brown lightly, sprinkling with curry powder. Cool a bit, then toss with chopped arugula, loads of chopped mint and lime juice.

The only thing you need to do to make this a yummy pizza is to bake mozzarella cheese on a pizza. When it comes out of the oven, top with the above salad and serve.

Or, #43. Grate raw beets (use the food processor to avoid ruining everything within spattering distance) and toss with watercress or arugula. Top with sherry vinaigrette and a little goat cheese. Especially obvious, perhaps, but also especially popular.

Spread the goat cheese on the pizza along with the grated beets. Bake and then top with watercress and arugula tossed with the sherry vinaigrette.

Or #70. Shred brussels sprouts in the food processor, preferably with the slicing disk. Toss with vinaigrette and crumbled bacon.

Leave off the vinaigrette and add a little cheese and you got a great topping for a pizza. It would go good with a whole wheat crust.

If you give it a try, I would love to hear what you come up with.