Description:
It's unlikely the Pilgrims served a green salad on the first Thanksgiving. Authors Louise Fiszer and Jeanette Ferrary point out in the introduction to A Good Day for Salad that this particular course in a meal didn't begin to rise in popularity outside the upper crust of society until the turn of the century--the 20th century. And it's not as though lettuce is something new. Romaine sounds like Roman for good reason. Fiszer and Ferrary respect the way salad has changed through the years, and how our own dining attitudes can change when we start building salads with a longer list of ingredients than is, well, traditional. Good old Waldorf Salad, for example, is now over 100 years old. The authors, never afraid to make a few improvements along the way, cut the mayo with yogurt while adding a little fresh fennel, watercress, and sprinkles of blue cheese. A surprisingly dour-looking book, A Good Day for Salad is filled with bright, luscious inspiration. Some of these salads cry out for decent illustration (Melon, Mango, and Mint Salad with Prosciutto Strips, for example), but the reader will have to use the visual imagination the publisher left in a drawer. There are bite-sized salads to try, such as Artichoke Bottoms filled with Corn Salad, and starter salads, such as Shredded Beets and Apples on Arugula (the dressing includes cream, lemon and orange juice, honey, and mint). There are "Folk Salads" (Salade Niçoise) and "Party Salads" (Caponata on Crisp Romaine Leaves), "Picnic Salads" (Herbed Potato Salad with Crispy Bacon and Sweet Peas) and "Dinner in a Bowl Salads" (Red Snapper and Black Bean Salad with Chipotle Vinaigrette). Other chapters take dieting into account, and all the little goodies that are so much fun to sprinkle on salads. This slim book is 150 recipes deep. With A Good Day for Salad in hand, the question of whether to serve salad at the beginning of the meal or the end of the meal is going to change. Having made the salad, cooks are going to wonder what else they should serve. Dessert perhaps? --Schuyler Ingle
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