The first course of the macrobiotic meal was baby Cos lettuce salad with coconut vinaigrette, followed by miso-marinated sablefish, with seasonal fruit salad and sorbet for dessert.

FORBES: Vegetarian (and Gluten-Free, Diabetic, etc.) Meals That Aren't Afterthoughts

Add to the mix Thai chilies, for heat (if you can't find Thai chilies, the more ubiquitous red chili sauce found in Asian markets makes a fine substitute), and a moderate amount of sugar, for balance, and you have a zippy vinaigrette that dresses a beautiful salad of shallots, mint, cilantro, scallions and toasted rice.

WSJ: Johnny Monis's Northern Thai Grilled Pork Salad | Slow Food Fast

Just before serving, the salad gets tossed in a vinaigrette made with a small amount of horseradish.

WSJ: Stephen Stryjewski's Calas (Rice Fritters) With Apple, Currant and Celery Salad | Slow Food Fast

Particularly good: grilled portobello mushroom salad with ginger tomato soy vinaigrette, and rack of lamb with red wine and rosemary sauce.

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With nothing but a drizzle of grapefruit-accented vinaigrette seasoning the beets, the strawberries provide this salad its sugary streak.

WSJ: Sean Brock's Beet, Strawberry and Sorrel Salad | Slow Food Fast

But since the menus are decided by committee every day with input from French-American sous-chef Philippe Shapiro and others, dishes can veer in any direction, such as the crowd-pleasing Vietnamese-style lobster salad with vermicelli, mango, and a carrot vinaigrette that turned up as a starter one night.

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