Whether it’s a deliciously simple salad of lemon-drenched rocket with a few shavings of parmesan; a transporting Greek salad; a gossamer-light sweet medley with fruit to balance the flavour; or a heartier affair featuring pasta, cold potatoes or crunchy croutons: when it comes to salad, the serving bowl can be utterly transformative to the repast (plastic containers be gone).

Prepare to be whisked away in our imaginations and via our tables to sun-dappled tavernas, trattorias and light lunches washed down with a carafe of cold white wine. When serving up a salad outside – or, even better, a selection of salads – we find we are diverse in our tastes of bowl or platter. We love a rusticity that speak of long Italian lunches in olive groves, but we’re also just as partial to the kind of spare white ceramic simplicity that transports us to the chic tables of France. And then there are the clean lines of Scandinavian renditions, plus the fuss-free enamel affairs that recall camping trips (albeit those at the more aesthetic end of the spectrum).

And if you’re looking for recipe inspiration, why not try one of these crunchy salads. Happy al fresco lunching, from us to you.

By Nancy Alsop
Updated June 2023