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Salads: Beyond the Bowl

(book, Mindy Fox)


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h4. From the publisher

Salads: Beyond the Bowl brings the art of salad-making to new heights. Mindy Fox, the food editor of La Cucina Italiana magazine and the author of A Bird in the Oven and Then Some, here makes the most of seasonal produce, incorporates healthy grains into salads, uses interesting ingredients, and serves healthier and lighter new takes on classics like potato and pasta salad.

Fox pairs produce of all sorts with grains, beans, legumes, cheeses, fish, and meat to create extraordinary salads that serve as starters or main dishes for everyday eating, whether at brunch, lunch, or dinner. With her repertoire of 100 sophisticated yet simple salads, a visit to the farmers market or local grocer becomes an experience ripe with thrilling new recipe prospects.

“What excites me about salads is the seemingly endless possibilities of what the dish can be — everything from a stunningly satisfying and gorgeous plate of raw vegetables dressed with good olive oil and flaky sea salt to a more complex dish involving protein, beans or legumes, or powerhouse grains such as quinoa, farro, and freekeh,” says Fox.

Among the lessons that she shares are the basics for creating what she calls the “elemental salad.” Perfect for a quick and simple weeknight meal yet elegant enough to serve to company, Fox transforms basic ingredients into delicious dishes: a lone bulb of fennel, perhaps, with its pretty fronds attached, thinly shaved and dressed with a healthy drizzle of good olive oil, a grating of lemon zest, and a generous squeeze of the juice, then sprinkled with good salt, coarse pepper, and its delicate fronds proves, in mere minutes, that a single ingredient can be transformed into a show-stopping dish. Her elemental salads, such as Fresh Figs, Shaved Celery, and Prosciutto; Green Melon, Cubanelle Peppers, and Ricotta Salata; and Cara Cara Oranges, Celery Leaves, and Smoked Almonds, can be eaten on their own or paired together for a larger meal.

Gorgeously photographed throughout and with an introduction on salts, olive oils, and vinegars, notes on choosing and preparing produce, more than a dozen recipes for dressings, and a detailed source section, Salads: Beyond the Bowl will make salad your new favorite daily dish.
Arugula, Golden Cherries, Marcona Almonds and Parmigiano-Reggiano
White Bean Salad with Fresh Mint and Sumac-Honey Vinaigrette