Turn over a new leaf!

Nothing says summer like a fresh salad. But a plate of leafy greens, tomatoes and cucumbers topped with house dressing is the stuff of amateurs. Stay cool while the heat’s still on with these five special plates of veggie goodness.

Jardin Salad

Aldea, 31 W. 17th St.; 212-675-7223

The Jardin Salad ($11) is a bountiful collection of a greenmarket’s best produce. “The idea is that it will be a reflection of spring and summer and will evolve as the season does,” explains chef George Mendes, who’s currently tossing soft heaps of Boston lettuce with lightly cooked baby vegetables — red and white cipollini onions, carrots, radishes, turnips and edible flowers. He also adds chunks of an aged country-cheese from the island of Majorca, sweet and plump black mission figs, a shower of fresh herbs, and dresses it all in a bright reduction of port wine with olive oil and sherry vinegar.

Salad Trio of Kale, Quinoa and Avocado

Watty and Meg, 248 Court St., Cobble Hill, Brooklyn; 718-643-0007

Chef/owner Sosie Hublitz’s Salad Trio ($12) combines some of the healthiest foods on the planet — kale, quinoa and avocado — for a raw food trifecta that’s rich in vitamins, omega-3s and antioxidants and it’s delicious! The kale is plated with a heap of hydrated quinoa that’s been tossed with about 20 different high-flavor ingredients from lemongrass and ginger to cilantro, currants and shallots. Then, both are crowned with ripe slices of creamy avocado.

The American Salad

Gus and Gabriel, 222 W. 79th St.; 212-362-7470

At his new American gastropub Gus and Gabriel, chef Michael Psilakis reinvents diner classics with farm-fresh ingredients. For his version of an all-American salad ($7.95), he tops long crunchy hearts of romaine lettuce with smoky bacon, hard-boiled eggs, carrots, red onions, cheddar cheese, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, red and green peppers, and croutons. In typical diner form, it comes with your choice of a housemade dressing, but with an option such as the “blue cheese and smoky roasted tomato emulsified with rendered bacon fat,” making a decision should be easy.

The Chop Chop

DBGB, 299 Bowery; 212-933-5300

Daniel Boulud’s sleek new brew pub may be all about bangers, burgers and beers, but he’s also turning out a tempting summery salad with piles of chopped romaine, ripe chunks of avocado, juicy cubes of watermelon and strips of red pepper and carrots ($8). The mix is then generously dosed with a zippy ginger-sesame dressing.

Peaches, Pecans and Goat Cheese

Five Points, 31 Great Jones St.; 212-253-5700

Phillips Farms peaches and spicy toasted pecans are the centerpiece of chef Ginger Pierce’s Southern-inspired salad ($10) at locavore favorite Five Points. To balance the sweetness of the peaches and the spice of the nuts, Pierce adds tangy lumps of creamy Westfield Farms goat cheese to a bed of summer greens just fetched from the Union Square Greenmarket. It’s all dressed in a light moscato vinaigrette.