Catalan Salad - {Ensalada Catalana}

Recipe Instructions The basic ingredients of a summer salad are: Romaine or curly endive lettuce -- washed, dried, separated into leaves, and broken into manageable size. This forms the bed of the salad. Tomatoes -- cut into slices or quarters. Sweet raw onion -- cut into thin rings or slices. (If the onion is very strong, it is soaked in vinegar and water for an hour before serving to reduce sharpness.) Green and red peppers -- cut into thin rings. Green and black olives Optional additions (or winter substitutes) are: Radishes -- whole or sliced. Celery stalk -- cubed. Hard-boiled eggs -- in rings or quarters. For a more substantial first dish, the salad may be dotted with bits of canned tuna or shreds of desalted cod fish. It may be surrounded by slices of sausage or accompanied by side platters containing a few sliced hams and sausages. The salad is sprinkled liberally with olive oil; lightly with vinegar and salt.