"Salad Days" was a termed coined by William Shakespeare to describe a time of youth and innocence. Today the phrase "salad days" could just as well describe the first few days on a diet since one of the first things people do when they take the plunge into the routine of a weight-loss program is to buy fresh vegetables. Armloads of leafy greens, carrots, broccoli, and bean sprouts are purchased, washed, put away and. forgotten.

"I really planned on having a salad every night with dinner," a client told me in a typical scenario, "but by the time I would get home, I was too tired to start cutting up vegetables.  Yesterday I opened my vegetable bin because I needed an onion and it was full of disgusting rotting lettuce and shriveled up carrots."

Just as typical is the individual who is committed to eating a large salad sprinkled with nothing but lemon juice every night. Predictably within a week or so, eating the salad becomes more an exercise in self-discipline than enjoyment. " I used to love salads," another client told me, "but what I really loved was the avocado slices, sugar- coated pecans, chunks of goat cheese, and, of course, the salad dressing. Eating lemon juice-coated lettuce leaves does nothing for my taste buds. I am thinking of getting a rabbit so the veggies do not go to waste."

So as the diet progresses, the salad days are just a memory or a soggy mess at the bottom of the vegetable bin.

Vegetables that have to be cooked usually don't even make it home from the supermarket. We may look at the rows of raw beets, parsnips, cauliflower or gigantic bunches of leafy kale and mustard greens when we are food shopping and leave them staring back at us. We say to ourselves: "The kale looks like it comes from a rain forest; the beets will turn my hands red; parsnips look like anemic carrots. And I hated cauliflower when my mother overcooked it."

"I wish supermarkets would run a video of how to prepare some of the vegetables I see in the produce section. Each week I tell myself that I am going to cook parsnips or turnips but then I lose my nerve and end up buying only string beans, carrots or tomatoes," said a friend.  I responded with my own story of going to a nearby Asian supermarket and being afraid to buy much of the produce displayed there. "The shelves are filled with dozens of items that I am sure are very nutritious and taste good but I don't know whether I am supposed to use them in a stir-fry, or soup, or steam or boil them," I told her. " I limit myself to buying vegetables I recognize from eating in Chinese restaurants. "

Here are some suggestions that might get these foods out of the supermarket and onto your dinner plates:

• Buy fresh vegetables that are ready to eat. Grape tomatoes, bagged mixtures of leafy lettuces, grated or baby carrots, cut-up cauliflower and broccoli and packaged slices of green and red peppers require only removing from plastic before eating.
• Put your salad bowl on the counter before you leave for work in the morning to remind you to eat salad when you return.
• Invest in good extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, a pepper grinder and peppercorns. These are the basis of a good salad dressing that you can make faster than unscrewing a bottle of salad dressing. And the olive oil and vinegar will last for months.
• Buy or sharpen a paring knife and make sure you have a vegetable peeler. The really cheap ones without the fancy handles work best. Get a chopping board and make sure it can be cleaned easily. Now you have the tools to prepare your own salad vegetables when you are ready to move beyond buying them already prepared.
• Making salads and salad dressing is an activity easily shared with other members of the household. I remember doing this when I turned 7 or 8 and could handle a peeler and knife under supervision. Most kids are able to handle tablespoons and measuring cups and all of them love to toss a salad.
• Salad ingredients do not have to be confined to vegetables. Apples or pears sliced thin, hard-boiled eggs chopped up, and leftover chicken, ham or turkey will turn the salad from a side dish to a main dish for lunch or a light supper.
• Frozen vegetables can be steamed or prepared in the microwave. But avoid the ones that come with sauces; they are high in calories and artificial ingredients. Avoid them.