Editors of Food52

Who needs a book about salads? I do!
Salads have come a long way from that hunk of iceberg lettuce with mayonnaise (or, shudder, Miracle Whip Salad Dressing) of my childhood. And this is the perfect season to get some salad inspirations-- which is what this book is for me: inspiration. I look at the recipes and the ingredients, and it helps me regroup my mind to plan a meal. I can't say that I've followed a recipe exactly, but I've used them as launching points, substituting when I don't have show more something or someone is allergic to an item, skipping things neither of us enjoy, adding in some other favorites. This is a lovely collection of ideas for using leafy greens, fruits, veggies, proteins, grains, and more. These are salads with biceps (I'd say guts, but that implies heaviness and extras you don't want to carry) strength to carry a meal but also the ability to take a minor role in a different menu.

Bottom line, for me is this is good inspiration for when I can't think of what to do with what's on hand. Thank you Blogging for Books and the wonderful Food52 for sharing this with me. Happy table; happy tummies. show less

With something like nine cookbooks under their belts, Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, the co-founders of Food52, are practiced at producing exactly what cooks need. Mighty Salads is their take on making salads that are not just an appetizer, but are an entire meal. These are substantial salads with a mix of ingredients and flavors that satisfy, not whet, the appetite.

The salads are organized sensibly, by leafy greens, not-so leafy vegetables, grains, pasta and meat salads. I know when I show more think of making a salad, my thought process begins with what form it will take, grains, pasta, greens, or vegetables, so this organization makes sense to me.

Many of the salads are incredibly appealing. For example, a salad of charred romaine, peas, scallions, and bacon caramelized with brown sugar and paprika. I need to go shopping to make it, but it’s on my list because it sounds so delicious especially with the narrative of the recipe suggesting some wine and a sunset.

There are unique, fresh, and exciting salad recipes that are visual and sensory winners. The narrative is fun and light-hearted, using words like zhoosh and calling us readers cats, as in “you crazy cat”. There are many recipes with special ingredients most people will not have on hand, but then these are extraordinary salads with bold flavors and combinations. By special, I don’t mean weird and unheard of ingredients, but things folks generally buy for specific recipes because who has room in their fridge and pantry for so many items.

I love the size of this cookbook, just short enough that it will fit on an ordinary book shelf, not an extra tall shelf. There are useful tips on how to substitute lettuces, keep herbs fresh, cut them, how to melt cheese smoothly, and how to make great eggs. The photos are beautiful, colorful, and sometimes appealing.

I will confess that I am tired of the mess all over the countertop photos. I used to like them because they were something new and fresh. Now a clean counter would be original and fresh. There are some photos without a mess, but then the tablecloth is wrinkled, the folds not ironed out. It just seems to me that if someone spent this amount of time making a beautiful salad, they might spend a few minutes cleaning the counter and shaking out the tablecloth. And these are not quick and easy salads. They have many ingredients and sometimes require several steps, for example broiling each individual ingredient before mixing them in a salad. I don’t know about you, but if I put that effort in the cooking, I would serve them on a clean table with a neat tablecloth. It’s a fad, I get it. It’s beginning to wear thin because everybody is doing it now.

I think is a good cookbook. I love salads and make them often and will not just make salads from this book, but make salads inspired by it….perhaps substituting an ingredient here or there for something new.

I received a copy of Mighty Salads from the publisher through Blogging For Books.

https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2017/06/07/9780399578045/ show less

"Does anyone need a recipe to make a salad?" the team at Food52 asks in the Introduction. They answer themselves with a "No" and then a "Yes" and then go on to present 160 pages of salad ideas. Their question leads me to my questions: Who needs a recipe to make a salad? Who needs this book?

I remember when I rented my first apartment. (Madison, Wisconsin, $285 per month.) I come from a family that cooks and takes food seriously but I was not very confident and sent a message to my aunt to show more send cookbooks. What came instead was a stack of ladies mags like Better Homes and Gardens, and Good Housekeeping, and lo and behold that was exactly what I needed. Foolproof ideas in an accessible form.

With the plethora of cookery books in every bookstore, and recipes everywhere online, who would send old mags today? But this book might fill the same need and if you have a young friend just setting up a household, consider this as a housewarming gift. Lots of technical information and clever ideas tucked inside a pretty book with lots of photos to help the new cook along. Many of the recipes are inexpensive and perfect for entertaining on a tight budget. An experienced meal planner probably won't find this book worth buying, but it might be worth leafing through if you run across it.

The team at Food52 and their friends take credit for stuff that they shouldn't – I have been eating Warm Bacon Vinaigrette since I was a kid, so, no, it wasn't invented by Emily Connor. But Emily C uses it in new ways that will appeal to young people today.

For the record, I'm not wild about some of the aesthetic choices like blue pages and some of the fonts, and some of the photos are overexposed.

I received a review copy of "Food52 Mighty Salads: 60 New Ways to Turn Salad into Dinner--and Make-Ahead Lunches, Too" by Editors of Food52 (Ten Speed) through NetGalley.com. show less

Free Netgalley ARC for an honest review.

My actual rating for this one is a 3.5, but I don't feel it warrants a 3 star write-up. Like the Food52 Ice Cream Book, Mighty Salads is focused, as you've guessed -- on salad! I was prepared for this book to be a bit bland and boring, and to go looking for 2-3 diamond in the rough recipes I might want to try, but I was pleasantly surprised.

I was deeply impressed to see this laid out as so many different types of salad by chapters: leafy greens, show more non-leafy-green vegetable salads, been salads, bread salads, seafood salads, meat salads. I definitely have a number of these I will be trying in the future, far more than expected. I'm going to suggest you do the same as me and keep an eye on all the rest of the single topic cookbooks coming out from Food52, because they are consistently blowing out all expectations. show less