Customer Reviews

Salads: Innovative Main Courses, Appetizers, Desserts, and More

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The salads in this book are combinations of ingredients I was not familiar with but with the little extra effort I made delicious "gourmet" salads and learned a little more about different kinds of vegetables and oils / vinegars.

I have made 4 salads so far: Soba noodle salad with tofu, mushrooms, smoked paprika, cumin almonds, bok choy with wasabi dressing; warm salad of Chorizo, olives, potatoes, peas, and green beans with aruggula and cripsy onion rings (my favorite so far, hand made beer-battered onion rings); thai-styled beef salad with cilantro, mint, lime, and peanuts; chicken, shrimp, avacado, pecan and mango salad with baby gem, watercress, and sprouts.

What I like most about the recipes is its daring approach of ingredients and they are healthy, natural ingredients, lots of rich dark greens with one-of-a kind dressings. Most recipes probably need about an hour or so prep time so plan accordingly.

I was so horrified at the Publisher's Weekly review of this book I had to answer it with a personal review, to defend this excellent cookbook. I am a retired chef and I collect cookbooks, and this one is a rare find. How can Publisher's Weekly criticize the author for leaving out common recipes, such as a Caesar Salad? Everyone already knows of that recipe, and any experienced cook can locate the recipe for Caesar Salad in minutes. And when the reviewer says a recipe is "overwrought", I take it that he wants salads to be "simple". Well, I want a salad that is great, not simple. These recipes use diverse ingredients from various ethnic food sources, and again, I take that as a plus, not a minus.
This is a salad cookbook with new ideas, for people who care to cook and who want to focus on excellent ingredients and new methods of preparation. Some are easy assemblies of common ingredients, some require a fair amount of prep. The recipes combine interesting flavors and textures; ones I might not have imagined myself. That's exactly what a good cookbook should do - teach you new recipes, and teach you new ways to "tweak" your own cooking. If you enjoy healthy food and wish there were more salads in your repertoire, this book is definitely worth buying.