Vinaigrette

I am not happy with a meal unless it contains something green but if that, perhaps idiosyncratic, requirement is fulfilled elsewhere on the menu, I rarely bother any more to serve a green salad between the main course and the cheese. My personal preference is, increasingly, to place any preparation in vinaigrette at the beginning of a meal, even if it be nothing more than a green, leafy salad. I have often noted that whereas guests devour opening salads with relish, they usually only serve themselves a couple of symbolic leaves of a salad after a main course and proceed to pick at them disinterestedly. There is no reason, however, why a green salad, sprinkled with herbs, could not be placed in its traditional slot on any of the menus in the following chapters.