WRITTEN BY GREG ATKINSON PHOTOGRAPHED BY BARRY WONG

JUST AS the proverbial little black dress is the foundation of every woman's wardrobe, so a good green salad is the bedrock of every casual summer menu. And just like a string of pearls, the right salad dressing is an indispensable accessory. As farmer's market stands and regular supermarket produce sections overflow with bright and colorful heads of all kinds of lettuce, it's getting easier and easier to fill the salad bowl. But once the bowl is filled, where do you find that string of pearls?

Most often, when I serve a salad, I coat the leaves with a little oil, then sprinkle them with lemon juice or vinegar, finishing the salad with a pinch of salt and a grind of black pepper. But this sort of thing has to be eaten at once or the vinegar burns through the oil, the greens begin to wilt, and the whole thing is lost. Like a starlet, all dressed and waiting for her close-up, a dressed salad cannot be left to stand around wilting in the sun. So hold off on the dressing.

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When salad is part of a buffet or a family-style supper in the summertime, dressing is best served on the side to be dribbled or spooned over the greens right on the plate. Oil and vinegar just doesn't work for this sort of thing. It is better to have one of those thick and creamy American-style dressings, but leave the bottled stuff on the supermarket shelf and take a few minutes to whip up a classic number from the 20th century. With one of these simple but elegant concoctions, your salad will sparkle like Audrey Hepburn did in those Givenchy dresses she wore so well.