1/2 large head of romaine lettuce (bias sliced in two inch cuts)
2 celery stalks (skinned and bias sliced in one inch cuts)
a piece of fennel (about the size of half your palm, cut into half inch squares)
1/2 large cucumber (skinned and sliced – slices not too fat)
1/2 sweet green pepper – or sweet red pepper cored and thinly sliced
1/2 small yellow onion (very thinly sliced)
optional: carrot (skinned and thinly sliced)
salt and black pepper
olive oil
red wine vinegar OR fat free Italian dressing
grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
1 large tomato (stem out, divided in eighths)
handful of Greek/Italian green olives or cured black olives
optional: tablespoon full of capers
Toss lettuce, celery, fennel, cucumber, bell pepper, onion and carrot. Add salt and ground black pepper to taste. Traditionally, this is tossed with a dressing “family style” (same dressing for everyone, applied in the the serving bowl). Usually the dressing is 3 parts olive oil to one part strong red wine vinegar (balsamic is o.k. but not necessary). If you’re trying to cut out the fat, use a fat free Italian dressing, but dust the result with a little Parmesan or Romano cheese to keep the thing from going flat. Then, top with tomato, olives and grapes. Arrange evenly, but no decorative pretension.