Mckinnon - Community: Salad Recipes from Arthur Street Kitchen

FOREWORD T he world of fo od has changed dramatically since I rst started cycling salads around the streets of Syd neys Surry Hills. In 2011, it was still a relatively anal og world, and very little of our lives was documented online. Fittingly , it was word of mouth that led people to discover my salad deliveries at Arthur S treet Kitchen, and subsequently , it was this same person-to-person grapevine that pro pelled this small book from local legend to a household favourite across Australia. Since Community s rst release, it has been remarkable to witness how deeply this book has resonated with people, both older and younger , from the ci ty and the country; from all corners of Australia and even the world. Community has slowly take n on a life of its own, inspiring home cooks to live up to the title of the book with zeal. Cooking salads together and sharing recipes has become a delicious pastime embraced by so many . In the rst edition of Community , I wrote these words: There are f ew things mor e satisfying in life than cooking a beautiful meal and sharing it with others. T o feed the people that you care about is the ultimate in nurturing and nourishing. At its very heart, food and eating is, or should be, a communal experience that brings together friends, fo rties families, unites neighbours and acquaints strangers. T od ay, m y belief in these words is stronger than ever. Over the years, I have seen how prof oundly f ood nurtures us not only physically , bu t emotionally, too. Readers have shared countless stories about how cooking from this book has helped them through dicult times, united families, sparke d friendships, strengthened bonds and bridged distances. It is so humbling to see my book have such an extraor dinary impact on other people s lives. It is hard to express how m uch Community means to me. Discovering the power of food to bring people together, and to evoke memories, was the turning point of my life, both pr ofessionall y and personally. These recipes from Arthur St reet Kitchen gave me life. T o cook for o thers fullled me in ways I could never have previously imagined or understood. Becoming a cook, and writing about fo od, brought me closer to my mum, and has provided me with a gateway to connect more meaningfully with my own cultural identity. T od ay, t he foundati ons of Arthur Street Kitchen and Community still underpin all that I pursue. I didn t know this when I rst wrote this book, but I know it now there is great responsibility that comes with writing recipes. Over the years, meeting Community devotees and home cooks has shown me what a privilege it is to share recipes, and f or my dishes to become an important part of another family s culinary legacy. That people around Australia fe el empowered to cook, to approach vegetables with enthusiasm and creativity, and to share their fo od with their loved ones, lls me with unspeakable joy . Hetty McKinn on November 2019

FINDING COMMUNITY I n our age of ephemera, Community invites the reader to nd more meaningful ways of connecting through fo od. This book is not about cooking and eating a meal at lightning pace. Rather, it encourages us all to take the time to nd comfo rt, pleasure, celebration and inspiration in both the process of cooking and the art of eating together . In my world, salads are the ultimate sharing f ood. Ther e is no more satisfying sight than seeing a huge platter piled high with vibrant vegetables. One of the things I love most about salads is that they are so adaptable over the years, these recipes hav e become regulars on fe asting tables because they can be prepared ahead of time and eaten at room temperature. Another plus is that they are totally transportab le, an easy dish to pack up and take along to a friendly gathering, an outdoor dining experience or f or an inspiring desk lunch. My salad re cipes, with vegetables at their helm, are emphatic main meals, rather than side dishes. The best cookbooks are usually the ones that are the dirtiest. I encourage yo u to get Community o the shelf, splatter it with fo od stains and ke ep notes on the pages. I once met a reader who had diligently k ept a note of every time she had cooke d a recipe, and to whom she had served it. Seeing her handwritten annotations, scrawled in pencil around my recipes, f elt so spe cial like I was delving into another person s edible history. I hope this collection of recipes will prompt you to try something new , an d remind you about the vegetables you love, or would love to try . Y ou will be surprised by how simple it is to create big-avoured, hearty ve getable salads at home. And be sure to share your creations with family, friends and neighbours. Embrace the chaos and harmony of eating together. In community , th ere is comfo rt, kinship and happy memories. INTRO DUCTI ON

INTRO DUCT I ON THE STORY OF ARTHUR STREET KITC HEN P eople often ask me how Arthur Stre et Kitchen came about. Many years on, it is still the question that I get aske d the most. The other question is, are you that salad lady? . While it is true that Arthur Street Ki tchen was born out of my intense love f or vegetables, the business itself was a happy accident . I use air quotes fo r business because, to this day, I never really considered Arthur St reet Kitchen a commercial venture. All those years ago, while I didn t h ave a fo od dream, I did possess a deep passion for th e community in which I lived and the neighbourhood where my childr en were growing up. After the birth of my thir d child, Huck, I was r eady to return to work, but rather than fo llow the road back to oce life , I decided to take a far- left turn. Without much fo rethought, I decided, on a whim, that I was going to mak e s alads and deliver them to the community. I still remember the disbelief on the faces of my friends when I told them about my brilliant new idea. In the beginning, I delivered on f oot, with my g randma trolley trailing precariously behind. Later that rst year , my husb and gifted me a white bike for my birthday (from then-local store T ok yo Bike ), which became the iconic wheels on which I would, f or more t han four y ears, climb the hills and traverse the laneways of Su rry Hills with a baske t full of salads. In the early days of Arthur St reet Kitchen, most of my customers were people I knew (I thank my dear friends in the hood fo r indulging me). Bu t soon, through word of mouth, my gang of local salad enthusiasts grew . Tw ice a week, on Thursdays and Fridays, I would land on doorsteps across my neighbourhood with hearty , hom e-cooke d vegetarian salads in hand. Soon, the exchange of the salad bo x began to mean much more, both to myself and to my local salad -eaters. The more I fe d the people of Surry Hills, the more I understood how fo od was the most powerful connector. While f ood was our common cause, each week, there was also a hunting and gathering of stories and histories, an exchang e of ideas, and the genesis of real friendships. I made a lot of good friends during my Arthur St reet Kitchen days, many of whom still remain v ery dear to me. Tod ay, w hile I currently live in a die rent community, Arthur Street Kitchen kicks on. The ethos of sharing, gathering with friends and lling the table to the brim with fo od and lively conversation is alive and well, not only in my home, b ut also in homes across Australia and the world. CO MM UN ITY