My daughter asked for ‘various salads’ for a birthday dinner . . .

And so I obliged her, digging into one of my favorite recipe books, The Foods of Italy by the late great Giuliano Bugialli, who was a guest on my television show in the 1990s. Bugialli was a champion of simple, authentic vegetable dishes from all over Italy. I found a variety of his insalata recipes for a healthy, mostly meatless (just a little pepperoni) dinner for my daughter, friends and family. The “various salads” concept makes for an easy dinner party because everything can be prepared well in advance, refrigerated, then set out to take the chill off ahead of the arrival of guests. Everyone passed dishes around the table and asked questions about each salad.

Bugialli’s pepper salad: Roasted red and yellow bell peppers, the skins removed and sliced into strands, topped with a tapenade of chopped tomatoes, capers, parsley, mint and garlic. I use olive oil in all of these preparations.

Tomato and fig salad: This was an experiment on my part. I didn’t have fresh figs so reconstituted dried ones over two days. I removed the stems, opening the fig up a bit. I dressed the figs with balsamic vinegar; served them with grape tomatoes tossed in olive oil, salt, pepper. The reviews were good.

Radicchio salad with pepperoni and provolone: Also an experiment. Sliced radicchio with slices of pepperoni and cheese, tossed with lemon juice and olive oil, seasoned with salt, pepper and a blend of Italian seasonings. I wish I had added arugula to this one. Reviews were good.

Frutti di mare: The birthday smorgasbord needed some additional protein, so . . . Some marinated roasted shrimp, tossed in oil, lemon juice, capers and garlic; with canned smoked mussels from Portugal and canned anchovies from Peru.

Zucchini and tomato salad: The squash was quartered and steamed, served with tomatoes and tossed in Italian dressing. Pretty simple, very good. Next time I’ll add slices of red onion.

Chick pea salad: Very simple, if you use canned chick peas. Mine were dried and reconstitued in a salted water boil with a sliced lemon and bay leaf. Drained and tossed with sliced onion, lemon juice, parsley and olive oil.

Broccoli and carrot salad: Bugialli always calls for soaking broccoli in cold water for an hour before cooking. You have to be careful not to overcook the crowns. I immediately put them in an ice water bath when done, then moved them to a bowl and refrigerated until ready for the final prep. The carrots are peeled raw. I added cooked celery pieces because they were handy and I thought they’d work with the dish. The dressing is important to complete the salad: Oil, lemon juice, garlic and pieces of mint and basil leaves.

Artichoke hearts with parsley: The canned artichoke hearts needed seasoning and softening, so I let them marinate in a vinagrette for several hours, then served with parsley leaves.

I put out a mixture of green, black and kalamata olives, tossed in extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled with red pepper flakes. I also served a plate of fresh mozzarella slices with an extra virgin drizzle. Crusty bread for everyone, too.