According to A Good Day for Salads, (in a section entitled A Short Course on the First Course) the advent of the salad as the first component of a meal came in this country when the first European settlers arrived. They were amazed by the abundance of fresh, edible vegetation. While they waited for their meat to cook over open fires, the couldn't help but nibble at the young greens growing all around them. Thus a tradition was born.
This book, written by Louise Fiszer and Jeannette Ferrary, attempts to take the simple salad to a far more sophisticated and tasty place than those plain greens that the founding fathers plucked from nearby clearings. They start with dressings and other tasty toppings and move forward through chapters devoted to bite-sized salads, salads as starters, folk-y salads (mostly the traditional salads associated with particular ethnic cuisines), salads for parties and potlucks, picnic salads, salads that can serve a full meal, fruit salads, salads for dieters, wrapped salads and lastly, salads you can make from the pantry.
If you are looking for a fresh approach to salads, this is a lovely book to look at. Their combinations and pairings are interesting and occasionally surprising (with happily tasty results). They don't just focus on the lettuce-based salads, also offering up pasta, grain, meat and alternative veggie mixes. If your garden is producing overtime or your CSA box is delivering more each week than you know what to do with, this could be helpful.
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