At i. Cugini restaurant in Santa Monica, the culinary accent is Italian, as clearly expressed by this salad. It flaunts the colors of Italy’s flag ― red, white, and green ― with three kinds of leaves, each of which has a slightly bitter edge. Italians like to play this edge against creamy pastas and juicy steaks. A number of other countries ― including Mexico, Ireland, India, and Madagascar ― fly these colors too; the salad could be served with equal patriotic zeal in 10 nations.