I love eating out because creative chefs often inspire me to try new things at home. I think most home cooks feel the same way as you can see  by a feature of Melissa Clark's column on the Times' blog called Restaurant Takeaway, and something similar in Bon Appétit, known as The Takeaway. Who doesn't want to recreate those bold, compelling dishes that haunt us after we've dined out somewhere special? And when it's a relatively simple technique or combination of flavors you can copy, so much the better. That's the case with this mouthwatering fresh salad that pops up as a special at ABC Kitchen in Manhattan, where chef Dan Kruger is known for healthy seasonal cooking that drives people wild.

Don't worry about having to slavishly copy every last detail of a recipe. Here, it's the combination of fresh herbs, toasted pistachios and savory green olives in the dressing that makes this salad so addictive. At the restaurant, they lavish this mix on a whole gorgeous head of butter lettuce, but anything crisp and green will do.

This year, we moved my herb garden from a shady side of the house to its own sunny raised bed on the front lawn and it's made a world of difference. We planted classics—thyme, chives, parsley, chervil, tarragon—and a few wonderful exotics like epazote (a Mexican herb delicious with beans) and black cumin.

So far, I've used lots of dill for pickles, Italian basil for pesto, Thai basil for summer rolls and parsley in green juices. On the other side of the yard, I have an enormous mint patch that I have consistently cut back this summer, which has kept it fuller and happier than when it's allowed to get leggy and exhausted. I steep it in hot water for a relaxing evening tea, infuse it in cream for ice cream sandwiches (Jeni's also has a great recipe for mint ice cream), and dry it to last all year long.

Other uses for herbs: compound butters to eat with radishes, on toast, on steaks, etc; infused in white or champagne vinegars for a couple of weeks, then strained out; to flavor stocks and soups; to enliven salads and create pretty, flavorful garnishes.

When I lived in Los Angeles, I used to hike in the Palisades and I once found a big patch of chervil growing in a damp, shady corner along the trail. It likes those conditions, and tends to bolt quickly in full sun, though frequent picking helps. It's a very delicate herb, so you rarely see it for sale, but it has a wonderfully subtle flavor that's often paired with fish.

Lots of alliums are flowering now, and the blooms and buds are also great for cooking. These wild garlic buds will make an amazing vinegar that delivers lots of garlic flavor without all the pungency of the fresh stuff.

Chop, chop, chop some herbs, a couple of chiles, some meaty green olives and a handful of toasted pistachios; whisk them together with good olive oil and vinegar; then drizzle over some impossibly fresh and crunchy summer greens. My butter lettuces were past their prime so I halved a couple of tight heads of romaine and they worked out perfectly. It's as easy as ABC.