Blake - 500 Salads

A Quintet Book
Published by Sellers Publishing Inc.
161 John Roberts Road, South Portland, Maine 04106
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e-ISBN: 978-1-4162-0804-4

500 Salads copyright 2013 Quintet Publishing Limited. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American copyright conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book onscreen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form, by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Sellers Publishing, Inc. e-books.

March 2013

This book was designed and produced by
Quintet Publishing Limited
6 Blundell Street
London N7 9BH
United Kingdom

Project Editor: Martha Burley
Editorial Assistant: Camilla Barton
Food Stylist: Liz Martin
Photographer: Michael Dannenberg
Designer: Tania Field
Art Director: Michael Charles
Managing Editor: Donna Gregory
Publisher: James Tavendale

Shutterstock images appear on .
Cover image is Richardson, Alan/Stockfood America

Salads are incredibly versatile and come in a seemingly endless array of colors, shapes, and sizes. Whether youre looking for a side dish or a filling main meal, a healthy snack, a wholesome lunch, a luxurious and indulgent treat smothered with creamy dressing, or a luscious fruity dessert, theres always a salad thats just perfect for you.

Most often thought of as a cold dish, salads can also be served warmfeaturing fresh greens topped with hot or warm broiled poultry or fish, or perhaps tossed in a warm dressing just before serving. They can be light and leafy, consisting primarily of one of the many salad greens now available at most large supermarkets, or hearty and wholesome, based on cooked rice, pasta, or beans. Salads can be a meal-in-oneincluding meat, poultry, fish or shellfish, eggs, tofu, or another proteinor they can be an appetizer course, whetting the appetite for the meal to come.

Salads are perfect for almost any occasion. Sweet, fruity salads such as from the U.S. And there are all those main-dish salads featuring a good balance of nutrients, vegetables, carbohydrates (such as pasta, rice, potatoes, or bread), and protein (such as chicken, meat, fish, shellfish, tofu, eggs, or cheese).

Although you can make most salads using the most basic of kitchen equipment, there are a few essentials, plus a few handy extras, that will make salad-making easy.

salad spinner
Salad leaves should be washed thoroughly to remove any dirt, grit, or other debris. Its drying the leaves thats tricky, because theyre so easily crushed or damaged. Invest in a salad spinner, which will remove the water from the leaves, leaving them clean and dry and ready for use.

chopping board
A basic chopping board comes in handy for slicing and chopping lettuces, vegetables, and fruit, as well as other ingredients such as broiled chicken breasts, cheese, and hard-boiled eggs.

knives
A basic chefs knife is suitable for most salad-making needs. A serrated knife greatly simplifies slicing ingredients such as tomatoes.

mandolines, slicers & graters
A mandoline will come in handy for recipes that require very thinly sliced ingredients, such as cucumber or carrots. A specially designed cheese slicer is useful for shaving off thin slices of cheese, but it also can be used to thinly slice cucumber. An egg slicer that allows you to cut a hard-boiled egg into even slices in one motion can come in handy. Graters are great for shredding cucumber, carrots and other root vegetables such as beets, and cheese.

vegetable peeler
Useful for peeling potatoes, carrots, and fruit such as apples and pears, a vegetable peeler can also be used to pare thin slices of carrot for salads, or shavings of Parmesan or Pecorino to scatter over the top.

bowls & servers
Although many salads can be served individually, a large salad bowl is always invaluableeither for serving or for combining and tossing ingredients together. Smaller bowls can be used for mixing up salad dressings, and for holding prepared ingredients such as snipped herbs or sliced vegetables before combining and serving. Two large spoons are needed for tossing salads and serving.

whisk or jar with screw-top lid
Although most dressings can be whisked together in a small bowl with a small whisk, it is even easier to put all your ingredients into a screw-top jar and shake together.

Theres no limit to the type or quantity of ingredients you can put in a salad. Youre likely to use lettuce or some type of salad greens, but even these arent essential. Here are some ideas.

salad greens
There are countless types of salad greens, all with their own distinct taste, texture, and appearance, and all providing a great base for salads. Some, such as iceberg or Romaine, are far more common than others, but look more closely at the produce section of your supermarket or shop at a farmers market to find some of the more unusual varieties. Iceberg, green- or red-leaf lettuce, and baby spinach leaves will give you a mildly flavored salad, while nutty arugula leaves, peppery watercress, Belgian endive, escarole, and radicchio will add a distinctive, stronger flavor. A cellophane bag of mixed greens (often called mesclun) is ideal for many uses, providing different colored, shaped, and flavored leaves for maximum impact.

vegetables
Lots of vegetables, raw or cooked, are great in salads. Not only do they add extra nutrients, they also add huge visual appeal with their various bright colors. Classic raw ingredients include cucumber, carrot, tomato, onion, bean sprouts, bell peppers, celery, and avocado. However, cooked ingredientsadded warm or coldcan make a great addition too. Try roasted peppers, squash, red onions, and cherry tomatoes, cooked beets, or lightly blanched broccoli, cauliflower, and green beans. Cold cooked new potatoes are a great addition to salads and can help transform a light accompaniment into a main meal.