If a side salad has lettuce and a few veggies, for an entree salad do you (A) add a bunch more lettuce, or (B) add all kinds of yummy ingredients? (B) of course! Check out the recipes linked to this post for a yummy, satisfying salad.

But OK, to be honest, most of the salads I make do not follow a recipe. I don’t have time for that. I buy ingredients I like when I’m shopping, and I watch for what looks fresh or is on sale that day. I also have ingredients that remain in my fridge after cooking another recipe. Then, when I make a salad, I take what looks tasty in my fridge and add it to the salad.

I hope you will find time to try my recipes linked to this post. When you are creating a Salad With Gusto when you aren’t following a recipe, here the key things to keep in mind. Think about veggies with substance, such as roasted beets, squash and sweet potatoes, or veggies with substance that don’t require roasting, such as carrots and cabbage. Think about ingredients with flavor, such as berries and hummus, Think about texture and crunch, such as nuts and seeds. Most importantly, think about a good serving of protein, such as seafood, meat, cheese, beans, shelled edamame and tofu.

If you know you will be eating Salads With Gusto, you can plan for it. Here are some examples that take little effort at night or on the weekend and will contribute to quick, fabulous salads at lunchtime:

• Rinse beets and put them in a baking pan covered with foil. Bake at 350 degrees until they are just tender. Refrigerate them. You will see that when it’s time to make a salad, the beets are easy to peel and slice, and they are a real treat when added to your salad.

• Sweet potatoes and butternut squash are similar. If you ever tried to peel a raw butternut squash, it was probably a bit of a project, but if you put the butternut squash in the oven whole and cook it until it is just tender, after it cools you will find it easy to peel and add to a salad.

• When you make salmon, chicken, steak, tofu or other protein for dinner, set aside a serving to top tomorrow’s salad.

• Keep some canned or frozen protein on hand, such as tuna, black beans, shelled edamame and chickpeas. You can quickly add them to a salad.