Salad Books

[rotuts]

AnnaN  over in Lunch ! mentioned a book she is enjoying :

 

Salad Love

 

Blog:

 

https://www.lovemysalad.com/en/salad-lover/davidbez

 

so that got me to dust off  ( yep dust off      ) two of my much older salad books :

 

Lettuce in Your Kitchen

 

and 

 

Raising the Salad Bar

 

I give each a very high rating

 

I hope your library system might have a copy of each so you can take a Peek !

Edited December 11, 2015 by Chris Hennes
Made Amazon.com links eG-friendly (log)

[Paul Bacino]

Thanks RT!!

[blue_dolphin]

I purchased Peter Gordon's Salads: Innovative Main Courses, Appetizers, Desserts, and More after reading recommendations on an older thread about salad cookbooks. 

I use it more for ideas than following exact recipes but I think it's worth taking a look at.

 

Both of the books @rotuts's mentioned, Lettuce in Your Kitchen and Raising the Salad Bar,  are also recommended in that previous thread, along with a few others.

[rotuts]

thanks BD

 

Ill get that book from the lib

[Anna N]

 The other salad book I am quite fond of is Salad of the Day, a Williams-Sonoma book.  It is a large format, heavy book that offers 365 salads presented month by month. 

[SLB]

Thanks all.  I was just thinking that my salads need a serious injection of imagination.  This is great!

[nickrey]

Try Salmagundi, which looks at composed salads around the world; or Mr Wilkinson's Well-Dressed Salads, which looks at seasonal salads; or Salad Samurai, which is a vegan salad cookbook.

[Smithy]

Thank to a recommendation from @rotuts in, of all topics, Behold My Butt! I am now the proud owner of used copy of Lettuce in Your Kitchen: Flavorful And Unexpected Main-Dish Salads And Dressings, by Chris Schlesinger and John Willloughby. It's a fun book, and worthy of being noted (again) in this topic. So far I've made one of their fennel salads (Cary's Leaf Lettuce Salad with Orange, Fennel and Red Onion) although I took small liberties with it. The salad is great. The dressing is great. I have a bunch of other salads bookmarked to try.

 

One of the things I especially like about this book is that it categorizes and describes greens into classes: The Lettuces; The Mild spicy Greens; The Slightly Spicier Greens, and so on. Each recipe notes potential substitutions in case a specific green isn't available. Very, very useful.

 

 

I know from the discussion around rotuts' comment that I'm not the only one to have purchased a copy recently. Has anyone else used it yet?

[Shelby]

I just sat and thumbed through mine but haven't tried any recipes yet.  

[SLB]

I've had mine for awhile. 

 

I discovered that, it turns out,  by the time I get to the salad, it seems that I am Done Cooking.  So while I've look at this book a lot, I haven't made a single solitary salad out of it.  

 

I think maybe I need to start the meal-planning with the salad portion.  If I did that, when I ran out of energy, this failing would arise with the meat.  \

 

Because meat can just, you know,  go under the broiler or in the oven, and be totally great.   Especially alongside a salad.

 

[Not having cooked from it], "Lettuce in Your Kitchen" is a fabulous book.  I enjoyed reading it.  

 

I bought one good other salad book which I gave away, I think it was the Williams-Sonoma book.  

 

And at the home of a neighbor,  I came across a third book which I would buy if there was any indication that I was going to actually bring some game to salad:  https://www.amazon.com/Salad-Dinner-Complete-Meals-Seasons/dp/0847838250/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=salad+dinner&qid=1591912215&sr=8-1

[ElsieD]

I have the book also but have yet to make anything from it.

[Okanagancook]

This is a very good book.  Salads are classified in the T of C...main course meat, seafood salads, light leafy greens.  Lots of information about technique.  The dressings section make it easy to get a quick one the go.

 

With summer coming, it will stay out in the kitchen.

Edited June 12, 2020 by Okanagancook (log)

[curls]

5 hours ago, Smithy said:

 

I know from the discussion around rotuts' comment that I'm not the only one to have purchased a copy recently. Has anyone else used it yet?

Haven’t made anything yet from this book but have it on the kitchen table... need to start thumbing thru and picking out some recipes.

[Kim Shook]

I couldn't resist adding this one:

1972

 

"sprigged with ham rolls".  LOLOL

 

I was terrifically relieved to find that those are hominy and not, as I feared, marshmallows!  

[Katie Meadow]

Fruited rice and sprigged anything deserves a round of quiet applause. 

[rotuts]

Well

 

I have to add my recommendation to

 

a second Salad Book :

 

Raising the Salad Bar: Beyond Leafy Greens--Inventive Salads with Beans, Whole Grains, Pasta, Chicken, and More

 

consider getting it used .  I do

 

its a bit more conventional 

 

and has ore meat and fish.

 

nicely complementary for me.

 

Used is Good `

 

Im looking at that  book just now

 

and it ..................

 

good.

 

no worries 

 

i have a lot of BBQ top of the line books

 

for you

 

but just these two Salad Books.

Edited June 12, 2020 by rotuts (log)

[SLB]

30 minutes ago, Katie Meadow said:

Fruited rice and sprigged anything deserves a round of quiet applause. 

 

This.  

[weinoo]

On 6/12/2020 at 6:11 AM, Kim Shook said:

I couldn't resist adding this one:

1972

 

Nor I this:

 

 

Not as old as the Family Circle (1980).

[weinoo]

2 hours ago, heidih said:

I find that the older books and magazines show us that we are not "all that" on the innovation front. Old Sunsets from the 70's fit into today as an example

You mean hipsters didn't invent pickles?

[heidih]

21 hours ago, weinoo said:

You mean hipsters didn't invent pickles?

And I regularly took avocado toast to school at age 5 for lunch (I am 62)

[weinoo]

Shit, we were eating avocado and sprouts sandwiches when I lived in Santa Barbara -- free avocados from old, uncared about remains of orchards!

 

But I won't say how old I am.

[heidih]

4 minutes ago, weinoo said:

Shit, we were eating avocado and sprouts sandwiches when I lived in Santa Barbara -- free avocados from old, uncared about remains of orchards!

 

But I won't say how old I am.

 

Well the sprouts date ya   I left the dog with my kid in a canyon once when he sprained ankle (the kid)- got back with help and dog was chowing down on "windfall avos". Supposedly not good for canines but he was a big dog.

[Smithy]

I've just hit a stumbling block with my copy of Lettuce in Your Kitchen (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). The recipe for "Regulation Caesar Salad with Lots of Garlic Croutons" calls for 2 large eggs in the dressing ingredients. The first instruction says 

Quote

1. Slip the eggs into a small saucepan of boiling water and boil for just 2 minutes. Remove the eggs from the water and crack the yolks into a small bowl. Add all remaining dressing ingredients and whisk to combine. Set aside.

 

Does that mean that the whites will be firm and I'll have only yolks running out after I crack the eggs? If so, am I to do something else entirely with the cooked whites? I can't find this issue addressed anywhere in the recipe. I'm making another dressing for the time being, since I'm loath to possibly waste a couple of eggs.

 

Advice, anyone?

Edited December 9, 2020 by Smithy
spelling (log)

[FauxPas]

17 minutes ago, Smithy said:

Does that mean that the whites will be firm and I'll have only yolks running out after I crack the eggs? If so, am I to do something else entirely with the cooked whites? I can't find this issue addressed anywhere in the recipe. I'm making another dressing for the time being, since I'm loath to possibly waste a couple of eggs.

 

Advice, anyone?

Here's a guide to egg timing:

https://norecipes.com/perfect-boiled-eggs

• 2 minutes – The white isn’t fully set and the yolk is totally raw.

And I think it's usually just the yolks used in a Caesar dressing, so you would have the partially cooked whites left over. 

[Anna N]

8 hours ago, FauxPas said:

Here's a guide to egg timing:

https://norecipes.com/perfect-boiled-eggs

• 2 minutes – The white isn’t fully set and the yolk is totally raw.

And I think it's usually just the yolks used in a Caesar dressing, so you would have the partially cooked whites left over. 

So if the yolk is completely raw why cook it in the first place? Many Caesar salad dressings call for (uncooked) egg yolks. Is this some sort of attempt at pasteurization to avoid salmonella? I’m just curious.

Edited December 9, 2020 by Anna N
Spelling. (log)