Salad for Dinner: Simple Recipes for Salads that Make a Meal

Salads need not be reserved for those who are trying to lose a bit of weight, nor comprise just of limp lettuce, tomato and a few haphazard vegetables tossed on top.Salad can, in fact, be a very different, adaptable meal, whether as a meal on its own or as an accompaniment. A salad can be served at any time of the day and adjusted to suit. You are restricted only by your imagination and the availability of component ingredients. If you are a little unsure, then fear not as this book comes to the rescue.After an interesting, inspirational personal essay about the salad, how it played a part in the author's life and a look at how diverse and unique a salad can be, the reader is given a good overview to the key ingredients and techniques of salad making. The author emphasises how certain ingredients, such as even salt, can and do play a role within the overall constitution and taste of a salad. The attention to detail is quite amazing, yet one should not feel that preparing a good salad is beyond them. It isn't.Of course, everything is given as a guide - the author has been quite firm to point out that a cook can interpret a salad in a wholly-different way than another will. Personalisation is key. Maybe treat the book as a series of suggestions, a guide, or a look over the shoulder of the author as she has prepared each dish. Copy if you will, that is no shame. Innovate if you can, that might be the more enjoyable option.Before you even get to the salads, placed in-between the highly-educative tutorials, there are recipes for regular things like making croutons, vinaigrettes and other enhancements on the side. The salads themselves are split into a couple of categories - leafy salads; vegetable & fruit salads; grain, bread and pasta salads and legume salads.The range of salads on offer is amazing and there must surely be something for everyone - and if there is not then there is always the author's mantra of customisation to remember too. Each recipe is clearly laid-out, split between the ingredients list, a general introduction and overview, preparation and cooking instructions and often some notes or tips to boot.Even though by its nature the reader is likely to dip in and out of the book, it could be worth at least browsing through sequentially at first as there are a number of basic skills-type overviews that can possibly enhance and optimise your education. We might all think that cutting, for example, broccoli is easy. Well roughly speaking it is, but if you want to make it look pretty, reduce wastage and perhaps make the best use of the ingredient...To round off this book there is a metric/imperial conversion table and a comprehensive index - something that is always appreciated. So maybe if you want to enjoy rather than endure a salad, a closer look at this book could be recommended.Salads need not be reserved for those who are trying to lose a bit of weight, nor comprise just of limp lettuce, tomato and a few haphazard vegetables tossed on top.

Bit too middle-aged it its approach for me. One for the wealthy, retired.

I'm a great fan of soups and salads for easy, healthy eating - but it's sometimes easy to get into a bit of a salad rut especially in autumn and winter (roast vegetables and couscous - yawn). This book is great to add an injection of creativity and inspiration to menus, without adding faffy techniques or lots of time.Butter beans with chorizo and tomato, chickpea salad with roasted carrots and harissa vinaigrette, spiced cauliflower and potato salad are just some of the delicious combinations in this book. This also has a good `basics' section which gives us recipes for how to make various types of vinaigrette and other dressings, plus sections on croutons and accompaniments, and what to add to salads to give them some additional protein.There are full colour photos throughout but perhaps not quite as many as I would have liked - seeing what recipes will look like always make them seem more appetising to me. So for anyone looking for imaginative ways to get more fruit and vegetables into their diet, or just new ideas for meals, this is very good - recommended.