BOOK REVIEW: THE SALAD BOOK by Belinda Jeffery

Shane | 29 November 2016 | Reply

BOOK REVIEW: THE SALAD BOOK by Belinda Jeffery
Penguin Random House Australia – rrp$39.99
October 2016
Cookbook
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
9/10

“Food doesn’t have to be fancy (in fact, more often than not, the simpler the better), but when it is made with fresh seasonal ingredients and cooked with love, you can’t go wrong,” writes Belinda Jeffery in the introduction for this wonderfully colourful collection of recipes that push the boundaries of what you might consider a salad.

So often our tables have a green or garden variety, and a potato or coleslaw plonked on it. These old favourites are all well and good, but they’re hardly the pinnacle of imagination, and with a brighter, more exciting range of produce available than ever before, Jeffery’s book comes at just the right time to inspire us all to be a little more adventurous for our next family barbecue.

From the simple to the adventurous, using fresh ingredients from the market garden through to a myriad of cheeses, toasted breads, herbs, fruit and flowers, there is no shortage of creative ideas here.

Crucially, Jeffery shows us how easy it is to serve up an imaginative salad with no more fuss than we would use to make an old favourite.

Roasted Carrot Salad with smoked paprika, macadamia and parsley pesto is one such mouthwatering treat, and it’s easy to see that sitting perfectly next to a Peach, goat’s cheese and red onion offering. Warm broccolini, bocconcini, chilli & lemon salad makes the mouth water as an alternative to limp lettuce leaves, whilst Barbecued prawn, potato, zucchini & baby octopus salad is practically a meal unto itself.

Even the humble Aussie potato salad gets a makeover under Jeffery’s loving gaze, with a simple toss of tiny new potatoes in fresh herbs and a white wine vinegar and finely chopped shallot vinaigrette. Showing her fresh approach to salads is the completely unpretentious title she has bestowed upon this splendidly simple side: A lovely, simple herbed new potato salad.