Free Netgalley ARC for an honest review.

My actual rating for this one is a 3.5, but I don't feel it warrants a 3 star write-up. Like the Food52 Ice Cream Book, Mighty Salads is focused, as you've guessed -- on salad! I was prepared for this book to be a bit bland and boring, and to go looking for 2-3 diamond in the rough recipes I might want to try, but I was pleasantly surprised.

I was deeply impressed to see this laid out as so many different types of salad by chapters: leafy greens, non-leafy-green vegetable salads, been salads, bread salads, seafood salads, meat salads. I definitely have a number of these I will be trying in the future, far more than expected. I'm going to suggest you do the same as me and keep an eye on all the rest of the single topic cookbooks coming out from Food52, because they are consistently blowing out all expectations. ( )

Compact, easy-to-hold, and user-friendly, “Food52 Mighty Salads” is filled with more than 60 recipes for salads and dressings that transform greens and fixings into delicious dinner salads. Accented with beautiful, deep-toned photographs suitable for its earthy subject, this is a cookbook that answers the question, “What’s for dinner?”, with some very fresh ideas. The types of salads are each featured with their own chapter: Leafy Salads, Less-Leafy Vegetable Salads, Grain & Bean Salads, Pasta & Bread Salads, Fish & Seafood Salads, and Meat Salads. Here’s just a sample of what you’ll “dig up” as you turn the pages: “Featherweight Slaw” with “Creamy Ginger Dressing”; “Antipasto Chopped Salad” with “Artichoke Dill Dressing”; “Spring Vegetable Panzanella” with “Pesto Dressing”; “Lemony Greek Pasta Salad” with “Lemon-Dill Vinaigrette”; “Radicchio & Shrimp Salad” with “Warm Bacon Vinaigrette”; “Spicy Chicken Salad with Rice Noodles” with “Lime-Sriracha Dressing”; and “Thai Pork Salad with Crisped Rice”. Scattered throughout the book are helpful hints and tasty tidbits like these: “Happy, Healthy Herbs”; “How to Save So-So (& Plain Terrible) Dressing”; “Easy Eggs”; and “How to Sprout Your Own Grains, Beans & Seeds (No Sunshine Required)”. There’s something here for everyone, but I did miss a section identifying various lettuces and greens with suggestions on their usages and best add-ins and dressing matches.

Book Copy Gratis Ten Speed Press via Blogging For Books ( )

This is a comprehensive cookbook of salads that could be main dishes (as opposed to side salads). It is not vegetarian or vegan; there are a lot of recipes with meat, and not only in the chapter titled' "Meat Salads." I chuckled when I saw that very straight-to-the-point title. It is also not a raw ingredients only book, as many of the recipes call for roasted, fried or grilled ingredients.

Almost all of the salads call for at least 9 ingredients, so they are not simple recipes. And having only 60 or so recipes seems a bit light when compared to other contemporary cookbooks.

I liked several things. The recipe for GRILLED CHEESE CROUTONS being one. Also, there are helpful notes on how to fix problematic salad dressings (too salty, too sweet, too bland, too acidic), how to refresh wilted vegetables, and how to sprout your own, erm, stuff.

This is a great help if you are looking to have more meal salads, and don't mind eating meat. I wish that it had more recipes, though.

**eARC Netgalley** ( )

With something like nine cookbooks under their belts, Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, the co-founders of Food52, are practiced at producing exactly what cooks need. Mighty Salads is their take on making salads that are not just an appetizer, but are an entire meal. These are substantial salads with a mix of ingredients and flavors that satisfy, not whet, the appetite.

The salads are organized sensibly, by leafy greens, not-so leafy vegetables, grains, pasta and meat salads. I know when I think of making a salad, my thought process begins with what form it will take, grains, pasta, greens, or vegetables, so this organization makes sense to me.

Many of the salads are incredibly appealing. For example, a salad of charred romaine, peas, scallions, and bacon caramelized with brown sugar and paprika. I need to go shopping to make it, but it’s on my list because it sounds so delicious especially with the narrative of the recipe suggesting some wine and a sunset.

There are unique, fresh, and exciting salad recipes that are visual and sensory winners. The narrative is fun and light-hearted, using words like zhoosh and calling us readers cats, as in “you crazy cat”. There are many recipes with special ingredients most people will not have on hand, but then these are extraordinary salads with bold flavors and combinations. By special, I don’t mean weird and unheard of ingredients, but things folks generally buy for specific recipes because who has room in their fridge and pantry for so many items.

I love the size of this cookbook, just short enough that it will fit on an ordinary book shelf, not an extra tall shelf. There are useful tips on how to substitute lettuces, keep herbs fresh, cut them, how to melt cheese smoothly, and how to make great eggs. The photos are beautiful, colorful, and sometimes appealing.

I will confess that I am tired of the mess all over the countertop photos. I used to like them because they were something new and fresh. Now a clean counter would be original and fresh. There are some photos without a mess, but then the tablecloth is wrinkled, the folds not ironed out. It just seems to me that if someone spent this amount of time making a beautiful salad, they might spend a few minutes cleaning the counter and shaking out the tablecloth. And these are not quick and easy salads. They have many ingredients and sometimes require several steps, for example broiling each individual ingredient before mixing them in a salad. I don’t know about you, but if I put that effort in the cooking, I would serve them on a clean table with a neat tablecloth. It’s a fad, I get it. It’s beginning to wear thin because everybody is doing it now.

I think is a good cookbook. I love salads and make them often and will not just make salads from this book, but make salads inspired by it….perhaps substituting an ingredient here or there for something new.

I received a copy of Mighty Salads from the publisher through Blogging For Books.

https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2017/06/07/9780399578045/ ( )

Who needs a book about salads? I do!
Salads have come a long way from that hunk of iceberg lettuce with mayonnaise (or, shudder, Miracle Whip Salad Dressing) of my childhood. And this is the perfect season to get some salad inspirations-- which is what this book is for me: inspiration. I look at the recipes and the ingredients, and it helps me regroup my mind to plan a meal. I can't say that I've followed a recipe exactly, but I've used them as launching points, substituting when I don't have something or someone is allergic to an item, skipping things neither of us enjoy, adding in some other favorites. This is a lovely collection of ideas for using leafy greens, fruits, veggies, proteins, grains, and more. These are salads with biceps (I'd say guts, but that implies heaviness and extras you don't want to carry) strength to carry a meal but also the ability to take a minor role in a different menu.

Bottom line, for me is this is good inspiration for when I can't think of what to do with what's on hand. Thank you Blogging for Books and the wonderful Food52 for sharing this with me. Happy table; happy tummies. ( )