The beauty of green on green

Dear SOS: On a recent trip to the theater I had a wonderful dinner at Campanile. The Bibb salad was so simple and absolutely perfect. I would love to have the recipe.

Gretchen Alenin

Newport Beach

Dear Gretchen: This popular salad, created by Nancy Silverton, is refreshingly simple but delicious. It’s also quite pretty -- the herbs add various shades of green.

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Herb Salad

Total time: 20 minutes

Servings: 4

Note: Fleur de sel is a French sea salt available at specialty markets.

1/4 cup lemon juice plus 2 tablespoons (about 3 lemons)

1 shallot, finely chopped (about 1 tablespoon)

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil plus 2 tablespoons

1 teaspoon coarse salt

Freshly cracked pepper, to taste

3/4 cup fresh dill leaves, stems removed

3/4 cup fresh chervil leaves, stems removed

3/4 cup fresh tarragon leaves, stems removed

3/4 cup Italian parsley leaves, stems removed

1/2 cup finely chopped fresh chives

2 heads Bibb lettuce, leaves separated and kept intact

1/4 cup pale green celery leaves (optional)

Fleur de sel

1. Combine the lemon juice and shallot in a small bowl, and allow them to sit for about 10 minutes. Whisk in the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Adjust the lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.

2. Separate out 1/4 cup each of the dill, chervil, tarragon and parsley leaves and set aside. Finely chop the remaining quantity of herbs and toss them together with all of the chives and the celery leaves, if using.

3. To assemble the salad, place a quarter of the lettuce leaves, slightly overlapping, on a large platter, and drizzle a few tablespoons of the dressing over them. Evenly scatter a quarter of the chopped herbs, a quarter of the whole herb leaves, and a sprinkling of fleur de sel over the lettuce.

4. Pile a second layer of lettuce leaves over the first, and continue layering in the same manner until you have used all of the lettuce, dressing, and herbs, finishing with a sprinkling of herbs and fleur de sel. Squeeze a little more lemon juice over the top, and several grindings of pepper to taste.

Each serving: 200 calories; 896 mg. sodium; 0 cholesterol; 21 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 5 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram protein; 1.19 grams fiber.