Admit it: If someone were to invite you over to “share a salad,” wouldn’t you feel a little disappointed? Salad, as a main course, always sounds just a tad too virtuous. Too diet-y, too boring.

Enter Patricia Wells and her new book, “Salad as a Meal” (William Morrow, 2011), in which the author draws from her French culinary training to produce salads fit for a company feast. Toss up a crab salad with lime and avocado, a blt tartine or a poached turkey breast salad with lemon, capers, cornichons and mint, and no one will complain that you are “just having salad.”

“My own personal taste is for salads with a good hit of protein,” she writes, so her salads (which she loosely defines as “light and refreshing salad-related entities”) include plenty of smoked fish, poultry, meats, eggs and cheese. Her definition expands to include salad recipes for crepes, frittatas (Italian omelets), terrines (pate-like dishes made of chopped ingredients) and tartines (French open-faced sandwiches).

Salad comes from the Latin word for “salt,” she writes, and dates from a time when a salad merely was a mix of greens and salt. Shakespeare brought us “salad days” in “Antony and Cleopatra,” in which Cleopatra regrets her past dalliances: “My salad days / When I was green in judgment.”

“Salads have always conjured up fresh, healthy, youthful thoughts,” Wells writes, “and when one considers the expression ‘salad days,’ it makes us all want to consume more salads to remain eternally fresh and youthful.”

Salad as a meal. It has a nice ring to it.

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MAIN DISH

Chicken Salad With Green Beans

For the dressing

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1/4 cup tahini (sesame paste)

1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

For the salad

3 tablespoons coarse sea salt

8 ounces green beans, trimmed at both ends and cut into 1-inch pieces

3 1/2 cups (about 1 pound) cubed cooked chicken

1 1/2 cups sliced celery (1/4-inch slices)

1/2 cup finely minced fresh cilantro or parsley leaves

Coarse, freshly ground black pepper

To make the dressing, puree the garlic, tahini, yogurt, lemon juice and salt in a food processor or blender. Taste for seasoning. Store the dressing, covered and refrigerated, for up to one week. Shake before using.

To make the salad, set out a large bowl of ice water. Fill a large pot with 3 quarts of water and bring it to a rolling boil over high heat. Add the salt and the beans and blanch until crisp-tender, about five minutes. (Cooking time will vary according to the size of the beans.) Immediately drain the beans, and plunge them into the ice water so they cool down; this will take one to two minutes. If you leave them longer, they will become soggy and begin to lose flavor. Drain the beans and wrap them in a thick kitchen towel to dry. (Refrigerate, in the towel, for up to 4 hours.)

In a large bowl, combine the beans, chicken and celery. Toss to blend. Add just enough dressing to coat the ingredients lightly and evenly. Add the cilantro and toss again. Taste for seasoning. At serving time, season with pepper.

Yields four servings salad.

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MAIN DISH

Bacon-Wrapped Goat Cheese With Dandelion Greens Or Spinach

For the dressing

2 tablespoons best-quality sherry wine vinegar

2 tablespoons best-quality red wine vinegar

Fine sea salt

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

For the salad

1 tablespoon minced mixed fresh herbs, such as chives, chervil, mint and tarragon

4 (2-ounce) rounds of firm goat cheese

8 ultra-thin slices smoked bacon, pancetta or smoked ham

6 cups firmly packed dandelion greens or baby spinach

To make the dressing, combine the vinegars and salt (to taste) in a jar. Cover, and shake to dissolve the salt. Add the oil and shake to blend. Taste for seasoning. Store, covered and refrigerated, for up to several weeks. Shake before using.

To make the salad, sprinkle the herbs over both sides of each goat cheese round, pressing down lightly so they adhere. Wrap two slices of bacon, crisscross fashion, around each cheese round.

Heat the skillet over moderate heat. Add the wrapped cheese and cook until the meat is browned, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a layer of paper towels to drain.

In a large bowl, toss the greens with just enough dressing to lightly and evenly coat them. Arrange the greens on large salad plates. Place a wrapped goat cheese round on top of each salad and serve.

Yields four salad servings.