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Salad for Dinner: Simple Recipes for Salads that Make a Meal
Salad for lunch? Salad for dinner? It’s easy – and delicious – to turn salads into main meals with this original collection from chef Tasha DeSerio. As more and more home cooks are looking to eat healthy using local and regional offerings, the whole-meal salads highlighted here will satisfy vegetarians and meat-eaters alike. Simple, yet sophisticated and showcasing the author’s talent for presenting beautiful ingredients in an artful way, the recipes encompass everything from greens to meat and fish, dairy, and pasta and grain. With detailed information on in-season fruits and vegetables, lesser-known salad fixings, preparation techniques (including make ahead tips), and a comprehensive chapter on salad basics, readers will have all they need to turn out satisfying and beautiful salads of their own. Easy enough for one and special enough for a crowd, salads as a main course will be showing up on tables everywhere.
208 pages, Paperback
First published March 13, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
September 4, 2018
This book is so different from my expectations purchasing it, I’m surprised to find myself giving it 5 stars. I wanted a book full of quick, cheap, easy weeknight recipes and should by all rights have been disappointed to find that most of the dishes are fussy, high maintenance, require a long grocery list, and left me with a messy kitchen. What do you mean I have to toast the cumin seeds? Why can’t I just mince the garlic instead of mashing it with a mortar and pestle? You want me to cook rice without a rice cooker with HOW MUCH salt?
Chalk it up to either Stockholm Syndrome or an acquired taste for higher quality salads, but I actually make something out of this book about once a weekend because every salad I’ve made from one of these recipes has been so satisfying, flavorful and delicious, I find myself actually rushing home to eat leftovers. It turns out that taking your time on preparing a salad results in a meal that is well worth the extra effort! I think the fact that every meal I’ve prepared from this book was amazing keeps me coming back. I’ve gotten the most mileage out of the rice and bean salads. This was counter to my vague plan of cutting carbs and losing weight, but I do find that I am not tempted to eat out during the week when I have a rice, lentil, and cherry tomato salad with fresh herbs and a savory homemade yogurt dressing waiting for me at home.
Chalk it up to either Stockholm Syndrome or an acquired taste for higher quality salads, but I actually make something out of this book about once a weekend because every salad I’ve made from one of these recipes has been so satisfying, flavorful and delicious, I find myself actually rushing home to eat leftovers. It turns out that taking your time on preparing a salad results in a meal that is well worth the extra effort! I think the fact that every meal I’ve prepared from this book was amazing keeps me coming back. I’ve gotten the most mileage out of the rice and bean salads. This was counter to my vague plan of cutting carbs and losing weight, but I do find that I am not tempted to eat out during the week when I have a rice, lentil, and cherry tomato salad with fresh herbs and a savory homemade yogurt dressing waiting for me at home.
August 14, 2018
The recipes are good. I wish there were more pictures. I like lots of pictures in my cookbooks.
Read
May 11, 2022“Hearty salads that can stand alone as a meal!” Immediately followed by, “If you want this to have more substance, serve with lamb chops!”
Ok well the lamb chops are doing a lot of the heavy lifting in actually making it a dinner.
Also:
“Quick, simple, easy, throw it together with what’s in your fridge.” Followed by the fussiest, most complicated salad recipe you’ve seen in your entire life.
There were a few good recipes in here I might try. But simple dinners, these are not.
Ok well the lamb chops are doing a lot of the heavy lifting in actually making it a dinner.
Also:
“Quick, simple, easy, throw it together with what’s in your fridge.” Followed by the fussiest, most complicated salad recipe you’ve seen in your entire life.
There were a few good recipes in here I might try. But simple dinners, these are not.
January 14, 2013
I was very excited to get a digital edition of this cookbook to review. My family & I are trying to eat healthier. I love salads as a way to accomplish that, but sometimes it seems like you're making the same basic salad over and over with just minor variations. This book changes all of that! Page after page of yummy recipes for healthy salads that won't bore you. I like that some of them include different kinds of meats, and there's plenty of bean salads which give you lots of protein and keeps away that hunger an hour after eating feeling. Now, on the digital copy I recieved, the index was a mess. Mostly just "A" and a little "B" repeated over and over. Also, the recipe for "Frisee with Seared Scallops and Blood Oranges" was accompanied by a picture clearly showing normal oranges. Blood oranges are deep red while these were bright orange. Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would love to add it to my shelf.
July 22, 2016
I'd give this book 1-1/2 stars, but I didn't like it enough to round up to 2. Sorry.
Eating salad as a meal isn't a new concept by any means, and I didn't find any innovative recipes that made me want to to have a salad right now. You could find these ideas online, with better pictures and more variations, pretty easily.
The lists at the beginning of each section would have been better if there had been pictures to accompany them (ex. the proper way to slice asparagus), but honestly, I don't know if that would have made a huge difference for my review.
I love salad, for lunch or for dinner. But save yourself the cost of this book and look for these recipes elsewhere.
Eating salad as a meal isn't a new concept by any means, and I didn't find any innovative recipes that made me want to to have a salad right now. You could find these ideas online, with better pictures and more variations, pretty easily.
The lists at the beginning of each section would have been better if there had been pictures to accompany them (ex. the proper way to slice asparagus), but honestly, I don't know if that would have made a huge difference for my review.
I love salad, for lunch or for dinner. But save yourself the cost of this book and look for these recipes elsewhere.
January 3, 2012
I had stopped growing lettuces in my garden because cleaning them is so much trouble. However, after reading this book I’ve decided it is worth the trouble to have a ready supply of organic greens at hand, so back into the garden rotation go a variety of lettuces and other salad vegetables. Since the growing season along the Gulf Coast is long I am able to harvest fresh produce almost year-round.
I enjoyed this book and am happy to have it on my shelf for ready reference. I certainly am serving salads more often, to the delight of my family and guests.
I enjoyed this book and am happy to have it on my shelf for ready reference. I certainly am serving salads more often, to the delight of my family and guests.
January 1, 2012
I was literally hungry for this book, but most of the recipes did not appeal to me. The advice about making vinaigrettes and seasoning the salad was good. The mix of lite, filling, cold, and warm salads was good, but there was little here that was ground breaking.
May 18, 2012
Salads need not be reserved for those who are trying to lose a bit of weight, nor comprise just of limp lettuce, tomato and a few haphazard vegetables tossed on top.
Salad can, in fact, be a very different, adaptable meal, whether as a meal on its own or as an accompaniment. A salad can be served at any time of the day and adjusted to suit. You are restricted only by your imagination and the availability of component ingredients. If you are a little unsure, then fear not as this book comes to the rescue.
After an interesting, inspirational personal essay about the salad, how it played a part in the author's life and a look at how diverse and unique a salad can be, the reader is given a good overview to the key ingredients and techniques of salad making. The author emphasises how certain ingredients, such as even salt, can and do play a role within the overall constitution and taste of a salad. The attention to detail is quite amazing, yet one should not feel that preparing a good salad is beyond them. It isn't.
Of course, everything is given as a guide - the author has been quite firm to point out that a cook can interpret a salad in a wholly-different way than another will. Personalisation is key. Maybe treat the book as a series of suggestions, a guide, or a look over the shoulder of the author as she has prepared each dish. Copy if you will, that is no shame. Innovate if you can, that might be the more enjoyable option.
Before you even get to the salads, placed in-between the highly-educative tutorials, there are recipes for regular things like making croutons, vinaigrettes and other enhancements on the side. The salads themselves are split into a couple of categories - leafy salads; vegetable & fruit salads; grain, bread and pasta salads and legume salads.
The range of salads on offer is amazing and there must surely be something for everyone - and if there is not then there is always the author's mantra of customisation to remember too. Each recipe is clearly laid-out, split between the ingredients list, a general introduction and overview, preparation and cooking instructions and often some notes or tips to boot.
Even though by its nature the reader is likely to dip in and out of the book, it could be worth at least browsing through sequentially at first as there are a number of basic skills-type overviews that can possibly enhance and optimise your education. We might all think that cutting, for example, broccoli is easy. Well roughly speaking it is, but if you want to make it look pretty, reduce wastage and perhaps make the best use of the ingredient...
To round off this book there is a metric/imperial conversion table and a comprehensive index - something that is always appreciated. So maybe if you want to enjoy rather than endure a salad, a closer look at this book could be recommended.
Salad for Dinner, written by Tasha DeSerio and published by The Taunton Press. ISBN Salads need not be reserved for those who are trying to lose a bit of weight, nor comprise just of limp lettuce, tomato and a few haphazard vegetables tossed on top.
Salad can, in fact, be a very different, adaptable meal, whether as a meal on its own or as an accompaniment. A salad can be served at any time of the day and adjusted to suit. You are restricted only by your imagination and the availability of component ingredients. If you are a little unsure, then fear not as this book comes to the rescue.
After an interesting, inspirational personal essay about the salad, how it played a part in the author's life and a look at how diverse and unique a salad can be, the reader is given a good overview to the key ingredients and techniques of salad making. The author emphasises how certain ingredients, such as even salt, can and do play a role within the overall constitution and taste of a salad. The attention to detail is quite amazing, yet one should not feel that preparing a good salad is beyond them. It isn't.
Of course, everything is given as a guide - the author has been quite firm to point out that a cook can interpret a salad in a wholly-diff
erent way than another will. Personalisation is key. Maybe treat the book as a series of suggestions, a guide, or a look over the shoulder of the author as she has prepared each dish. Copy if you will, that is no shame. Innovate if you can, that might be the more enjoyable option.
Before you even get to the salads, placed in-between the highly-educative tutorials, there are recipes for regular things like making croutons, vinaigrettes and other enhancements on the side. The salads themselves are split into a couple of categories - leafy salads; vegetable & fruit salads; grain, bread and pasta salads and legume salads.
The range of salads on offer is amazing and there must surely be something for everyone - and if there is not then there is always the author's mantra of customisation to remember too. Each recipe is clearly laid-out, split between the ingredients list, a general introduction and overview, preparation and cooking instructions and often some notes or tips to boot.
Even though by its nature the reader is likely to dip in and out of the book, it could be worth at least browsing through sequentially at first as there are a number of basic skills-type overviews that can possibly enhance and optimise your education. We might all think that cutting, for example, broccoli is easy. Well roughly speaking it is, but if you want to make it look pretty, reduce wastage and perhaps make the best use of the ingredient...
To round off this book there is a metric/imperial conversion table and a comprehensive index - something that is always appreciated. So maybe if you want to enjoy rather than endure a salad, a closer look at this book could be recommended.
Salad for Dinner, written by Tasha DeSerio and published by The Taunton Press. ISBN 9781600854316, 224 pages. Typical price: USD15. YYYY.
// This review appeared in YUM.fi and is reproduced here in full with permission of YUM.fi. YUM.fi celebrates the worldwide diversity of food and drink, as presented through the humble book. Whether you call it a cookery book, cook book, recipe book or something else (in the language of your choice) YUM will provide you with news and reviews of the latest books on the marketplace. //
Salad can, in fact, be a very different, adaptable meal, whether as a meal on its own or as an accompaniment. A salad can be served at any time of the day and adjusted to suit. You are restricted only by your imagination and the availability of component ingredients. If you are a little unsure, then fear not as this book comes to the rescue.
After an interesting, inspirational personal essay about the salad, how it played a part in the author's life and a look at how diverse and unique a salad can be, the reader is given a good overview to the key ingredients and techniques of salad making. The author emphasises how certain ingredients, such as even salt, can and do play a role within the overall constitution and taste of a salad. The attention to detail is quite amazing, yet one should not feel that preparing a good salad is beyond them. It isn't.
Of course, everything is given as a guide - the author has been quite firm to point out that a cook can interpret a salad in a wholly-different way than another will. Personalisation is key. Maybe treat the book as a series of suggestions, a guide, or a look over the shoulder of the author as she has prepared each dish. Copy if you will, that is no shame. Innovate if you can, that might be the more enjoyable option.
Before you even get to the salads, placed in-between the highly-educative tutorials, there are recipes for regular things like making croutons, vinaigrettes and other enhancements on the side. The salads themselves are split into a couple of categories - leafy salads; vegetable & fruit salads; grain, bread and pasta salads and legume salads.
The range of salads on offer is amazing and there must surely be something for everyone - and if there is not then there is always the author's mantra of customisation to remember too. Each recipe is clearly laid-out, split between the ingredients list, a general introduction and overview, preparation and cooking instructions and often some notes or tips to boot.
Even though by its nature the reader is likely to dip in and out of the book, it could be worth at least browsing through sequentially at first as there are a number of basic skills-type overviews that can possibly enhance and optimise your education. We might all think that cutting, for example, broccoli is easy. Well roughly speaking it is, but if you want to make it look pretty, reduce wastage and perhaps make the best use of the ingredient...
To round off this book there is a metric/imperial conversion table and a comprehensive index - something that is always appreciated. So maybe if you want to enjoy rather than endure a salad, a closer look at this book could be recommended.
Salad for Dinner, written by Tasha DeSerio and published by The Taunton Press. ISBN Salads need not be reserved for those who are trying to lose a bit of weight, nor comprise just of limp lettuce, tomato and a few haphazard vegetables tossed on top.
Salad can, in fact, be a very different, adaptable meal, whether as a meal on its own or as an accompaniment. A salad can be served at any time of the day and adjusted to suit. You are restricted only by your imagination and the availability of component ingredients. If you are a little unsure, then fear not as this book comes to the rescue.
After an interesting, inspirational personal essay about the salad, how it played a part in the author's life and a look at how diverse and unique a salad can be, the reader is given a good overview to the key ingredients and techniques of salad making. The author emphasises how certain ingredients, such as even salt, can and do play a role within the overall constitution and taste of a salad. The attention to detail is quite amazing, yet one should not feel that preparing a good salad is beyond them. It isn't.
Of course, everything is given as a guide - the author has been quite firm to point out that a cook can interpret a salad in a wholly-diff
erent way than another will. Personalisation is key. Maybe treat the book as a series of suggestions, a guide, or a look over the shoulder of the author as she has prepared each dish. Copy if you will, that is no shame. Innovate if you can, that might be the more enjoyable option.
Before you even get to the salads, placed in-between the highly-educative tutorials, there are recipes for regular things like making croutons, vinaigrettes and other enhancements on the side. The salads themselves are split into a couple of categories - leafy salads; vegetable & fruit salads; grain, bread and pasta salads and legume salads.
The range of salads on offer is amazing and there must surely be something for everyone - and if there is not then there is always the author's mantra of customisation to remember too. Each recipe is clearly laid-out, split between the ingredients list, a general introduction and overview, preparation and cooking instructions and often some notes or tips to boot.
Even though by its nature the reader is likely to dip in and out of the book, it could be worth at least browsing through sequentially at first as there are a number of basic skills-type overviews that can possibly enhance and optimise your education. We might all think that cutting, for example, broccoli is easy. Well roughly speaking it is, but if you want to make it look pretty, reduce wastage and perhaps make the best use of the ingredient...
To round off this book there is a metric/imperial conversion table and a comprehensive index - something that is always appreciated. So maybe if you want to enjoy rather than endure a salad, a closer look at this book could be recommended.
Salad for Dinner, written by Tasha DeSerio and published by The Taunton Press. ISBN 9781600854316, 224 pages. Typical price: USD15. YYYY.
// This review appeared in YUM.fi and is reproduced here in full with permission of YUM.fi. YUM.fi celebrates the worldwide diversity of food and drink, as presented through the humble book. Whether you call it a cookery book, cook book, recipe book or something else (in the language of your choice) YUM will provide you with news and reviews of the latest books on the marketplace. //
September 2, 2020
A nice collection of salad basics, recipes, and flavor combinations. Nothing too earth-shattering or new here, but if you're looking to add or diversify your salad options, check it out.
May 18, 2023
Unfortunately, there wasn't anything in here that spoke to me.
September 29, 2018
I've already mentioned before on my blog that this is now one of my favorite cookbooks, but I haven't actually written a formal review for it.
I picked this book up from my library not because I was really looking for salad ideas, but honestly just because the cover made me drool a little. :D I am a big fan of salads in general, I love making them and eating them, and usually pinterest has enough good ideas for me. But this book was honestly amazing. There were so many recipes that I had to write down for later.
My partner Grant is not a huge salad person, he likes meat and some veggies, but looking a lot of these recipes I'm sure I can convince him to enjoy more than the occasional salad. I haven't really had the time yet to make many of the recipes, but here are some that I hope to make soon. Wild Arugula Salad with Salami Picante and Pecorino, Spring Nicoise Salad, New Potato Salad with Shallots and Creme Faciche, & Farro Salad with Broccoli Rab and Poached Egg.
These are just a few of the ideas that sounded amazing to me. In the end I gave this book 4 stars and I hope to own it someday soon!
I picked this book up from my library not because I was really looking for salad ideas, but honestly just because the cover made me drool a little. :D I am a big fan of salads in general, I love making them and eating them, and usually pinterest has enough good ideas for me. But this book was honestly amazing. There were so many recipes that I had to write down for later.
My partner Grant is not a huge salad person, he likes meat and some veggies, but looking a lot of these recipes I'm sure I can convince him to enjoy more than the occasional salad. I haven't really had the time yet to make many of the recipes, but here are some that I hope to make soon. Wild Arugula Salad with Salami Picante and Pecorino, Spring Nicoise Salad, New Potato Salad with Shallots and Creme Faciche, & Farro Salad with Broccoli Rab and Poached Egg.
These are just a few of the ideas that sounded amazing to me. In the end I gave this book 4 stars and I hope to own it someday soon!
January 26, 2013
This book features sections on: Simple Salads; Leaf Salads; Veggie and Fruit Salads; Grain, Bread and Pasta salads and Legume Salads. There are also receipes for different types of vinargrette dressings, page on metric equivalents (a plus) a section on kitchen tools and equipment to make things easier for you in the kitchen, and of course many good recipes I'll be anxious to try.
Some of the recipes that I plan to try are:
Cannellini bean salad with grilled shrimp and cherry tomatoes (no photo)
Whole wheat pasta with roasted broccoli, black olive vinagrette and ricotta salata (photo)
Slow roasted salmon with beets, cucumber and horseradish vinagrette (no photo)
Frisee with seared scallops and blood oranges (photo)
It's a nice book - roughly 200 pages, but one I probably would borrow instead of buy. There are not enough photographs in this book, and as a visual person, it's a requirement for me when purchasing a cookbook. The photos that are included are great -- it's just that there are not enough of them.
3.5/5 stars
Some of the recipes that I plan to try are:
Cannellini bean salad with grilled shrimp and cherry tomatoes (no photo)
Whole wheat pasta with roasted broccoli, black olive vinagrette and ricotta salata (photo)
Slow roasted salmon with beets, cucumber and horseradish vinagrette (no photo)
Frisee with seared scallops and blood oranges (photo)
It's a nice book - roughly 200 pages, but one I probably would borrow instead of buy. There are not enough photographs in this book, and as a visual person, it's a requirement for me when purchasing a cookbook. The photos that are included are great -- it's just that there are not enough of them.
3.5/5 stars
March 22, 2013
This is the best cookbook I have found dedicated to Salads. The best part of this cookbook is the explanations regarding ingredients, preparation and the nuances of making a great, filling and full meal salad. The recipes for homemade croutons are great as well. I will use this book as my salad making bible. Salad for Dinner assumes without question that the salad is worthy of a main course and not a filler, or a weight loss tool, or a way to get vegetables. The recipes I tried were easy to follow and turned out great. I know how to wash and prepare greens and how to mix the different flavors. This book is a must for anyone for any season, but I look forward to using this book often during the upcoming hot summer.
May 25, 2015
The book has a lot of interesting tips for how to properly prepare and dress a salad, as well as hints for combining fresh and seasonal ingredients (the author got her start at Chez Panisse). I got some good ideas for ingredients to spice up our normal dinner salads.
Some of the tips struck me as strange. For example, am I the only person who didn’t know you’re supposed to salt salad greens before applying dressing? Likewise, I don’t usually put salt in the vinaigrettes I make, but the author of this book suggests doing so.
{Read my full review here}
Some of the tips struck me as strange. For example, am I the only person who didn’t know you’re supposed to salt salad greens before applying dressing? Likewise, I don’t usually put salt in the vinaigrettes I make, but the author of this book suggests doing so.
{Read my full review here}
December 1, 2011
Nothing extraordinary. Salad for Dinner is neither a new concept, nor it it really handled any differently here than 1000 other books giving recipes for salads topped with steak, bacon or fruit.
The photography is lovely, and I admit that it's worth a look for the fair selection of salad ideas involving whole grains. Might not be a bad idea to add this to the cookbook shelf, if just to have something to take down and flip through on those dog-days when it's too hot to even contemplate cooking.
The photography is lovely, and I admit that it's worth a look for the fair selection of salad ideas involving whole grains. Might not be a bad idea to add this to the cookbook shelf, if just to have something to take down and flip through on those dog-days when it's too hot to even contemplate cooking.
March 16, 2012
Salad for Dinner has innovative salad recipes that everyone can prepare. I love salads and this book showed me how to prepare quality salad and how to mix different ingredients. My favourite salads were the vegetable and fruit salads that are so healthy. I only have one negative thing about this book. There weren't pictures for many recipes which I found a little disappointing. Salad for Dinner helps us of how to have better and healthier life with preparing these simple recipes.
May 13, 2012
I really wanted to like this book, because the author has great credentials. Additionally I wanted to find a great series of easy salad recipes to make.
Sadly there are a few winners, but the collection is mostly pretentious and beyond the average reader's reach -based on cost & simple availability in regular groceries.
Sadly there are a few winners, but the collection is mostly pretentious and beyond the average reader's reach -based on cost & simple availability in regular groceries.
October 11, 2013
I'm eating raw these days, and I was looking for some innovative dressings, NOT food combinations. The book may have magic in it as far as innovative mixes, but as far as a tasty variety of dressings for just greens, this isn't the book.
August 1, 2016
Good, basic book on salads. Doesn't have photos for all the recipes, though. Too many have meat in them for me. Nothing too inspiring here, but lots of solid recipes for typical combinations of tasty salads.
August 6, 2012
I enjoyed the recipes for dressings but the salads were not appealing, in my opinion. This did encourage me to want a salad spinner so that I can try more types of lettuces as the author describes.
February 28, 2013
Lovely book, but the ingredients were too fancy for me.
September 10, 2013
Copied a few recipes from here.
March 28, 2015
Most of it was too pretentious. Who would buy a whole lobster to put on a salad?
February 10, 2016
Only a few intriguing recipes. Lots and pictures and large font combine to make a sparcity of info.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews