Raising the Salad Bar: Beyond Leafy Greens

Cookbook Review by Kathleen Daelemans and her Mom

Title: Raising the Salad Bar: Beyond Leafy Greens – Inventive Salads with Beans, Whole Grains, Pasta, Chicken and More, Catherine Walthers, Lake Aisle Press, 2007
List: $19.95
Amazon: $13.57
What Made You Pick it Up? I was sick to death of soups and stews at the end of last winter and decided I needed some salad-y things. The subtitle appealed to my half-hearted desire to do things healthy.
Spatulas: **** (It would get 5 Spatulas if all the recipes were new. Nonetheless the book is great.)

Mom's Pros:
A lot of the titles sound really great like the Seared Salmon with Napa Cabbage and Warm Lemon Soy Dressing on page 116. Doesn't that make you want to run out and get all the ingredients? It certainly sounds a whole lot better than the plain piece of salmon with the plain coleslaw I always make. The recipe calls for julienned carrots. You won't find me fussing around trying to get Julia-Child-perfect carrots on the table. I buy pre-shredded carrots. Sure they're a splurge but shortcuts are the reason it's easier, cheaper and healthier to cook at home. Without them, I'd eat out more and look like a house-a-fire.

Recipes We Loved!
The Potato and Green Bean Salad with Dill Pesto on page 139 was a hit. The recipe amounts to cooked potatoes and green beans dressed with dill, parsley, vinegar, mustard and olive oil. It was quick and really great.

Shortcuts & Tips We Learned Along the Way: You can cook the potatoes and green beans in the same water and the same pot. Use a Japanese Spider or slotted spoon to scoop out the green beans when they're done. You can certainly cut back on the olive oil in the dressing. We upped the vinegar too.

Lemon-y Asparagus and Artichoke Pasta Salad. page 153: The recipe sounded really great but I didn't feel like roasting canned artichokes so I skipped them altogether. To get this to pass as supper by your Father's standard, I added a cooked and shredded chicken breast I happened to have in the refrigerator. It turned out really great.

Shortcuts & Tips We Learned Along the Way: The recipe calls for you to prepare the dressing in a small bowl. Make it in a large bowl and you can toss the noodles and asparagus right into the bowl with the dressing thereby getting less dishes dirty. The recipe calls for you to cook the asparagus in oil in sauté pan. Save calories and time by cooking the asparagus right in the pasta water. Because asparagus can overpower even chocolate, cook the noodles first. Scoop them out with the spider and add to the bowl with the dressing. Then cook the asparagus in the leftover pasta water. Add the asparagus stems first and the tips two minutes later (they don't require as much cook time as the stems. Scoop them out with the slotted spoon and add them to the bowl with the dressing. Toss, eat and enjoy!

Japanese Noodle Salad with Ginger Soy Vinaigrette, page 154. How do you get this stuff by Dad, Mom? Sometimes I give him dessert if there is absolutely no meat in the entrée but mostly I get away with it because he snacks after I go to bed. The other morning I got up and the brown sugar container was open.

Why do you like this salad? It's got an interesting dressing and an interesting combination of vegetables. Bok choy, celery, carrots, red pepper and scallions are tossed with a dressing of soy sauce, lemon juice, ginger, peanut oil and sesame oil. The salad is served over sesame infused Udon Noodles. I'd have to serve this with a piece of fish or a chicken breast to get this one by your father.

Cool Tip: The recipe calls for you to drain the Udon noodles and then add a Tablespoon of sesame oil. You are then instructed to shake the colander of noodles (until cool) to distribute the oil and release the steam. This technique really elevated the flavor of the noodles thereby allowing you to cut back on the amount of oil called for in the salad dressing.

Recipes We Can't Wait to Try:
Wheat Berry Salad with Citrus Dressing, page 195. This salad seems healthy and I think I could eat it. Your father would never recognize the grains as Wheat Berries not that he knows what they are. We'll certainly have a lovely dessert this night.

I can't decide between the Thai Quinoa Salad (page 190) or the Quinoa Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette (page 203) so I'll have to make both.

Carrot Fennel Slaw, page 214. I'll roast a piece of fish and call it dinner.

Green Bean and Radichhio Salad, page 229. It calls for toasted walnuts and goat cheese. Of course this will be an entrée salad but I can't wait to try it. I'd order it for lunch today but there's no one here to make it.