Endive

This salad shows how bitterness, punctuated with a zingy vinaigrette, can be supremely refreshing.

Wash the salad greens in a large bowl of cold water. Handle them gently to avoid bruising.

Asiago cheese can be found at some supermarkets, specialty foods stores, and Italian markets.

This raw dish is all about the best ingredients you can find. A great goat cheese and a fruity, high-quality olive oil will result in flavor that's as stunning as the presentation.

Editor's note: This recipe is from Erika Lenkert's book, The Last-Minute Party Girl: Fashionable, Fearless, and Foolishly Simple Entertaining For Lenkert's tips on throwing a last-minute New Year's Eve party, click here. This is about as easy as entertaining gets, with big bonus points for its refined presentation and luscious flavors. Hand-feed one — or 10 — to someone you want to seduce or friends you want to impress.

This mix of greens is a knockout blend of textures, and a short sauté in fruity olive oil mellows their slightly bitter flavor.

This easy, elegant, and flavorful salad is delicious with a glass of dry Riesling.

Ask the butcher to butterfly the lamb.

Tossed in a fabulous country-style dressing, these bitter greens are a wonderful counterpoint to a hearty main course.

It's impossible to overstate just how well the ingredients come together in this beautiful salad. The textural contrast of juicy ripe oranges and crisp endives is enhanced by a surprisingly complex vinaigrette containing sweet, spicy, and smoky flavors.

A mix of pleasantly bitter and crisp-tender vegetables perfectly complements the Duck with Walnut Sherry Vinaigrette . Some of the nutty, sweet vinaigrette will inevitably end up on the vegetables, enhancing their flavor.

A fun idea: Paper-thin slices of white vegetables are dressed with an Italian blue cheese vinaigrette.