Salad

Here’s a salad with plenty of personality. I like to make this as part of a meal of cool dishes in the summer, either with a cold soup or with two additional interesting salads.

This adaptation of a traditional Middle Eastern salad is filled with vigorous flavors and textures. I especially like it with Middle Eastern-or Spanish-themed meals. For a light summer meal, serve this with Sweet and White Potato Salad with Mixed Greens (page 188).

This flavorful warm salad can be made any time of year, its seasonal personality lent by either rosemary (for cooler months) or basil (for warmer weather). It’s a fairly substantial salad, so it’s good served with a straightforward protein dish like Tempeh Fries (page 78), Cornmeal-Crusted Seitan (page 63), or BBQ-Flavored Skillet Tofu (page 62).

Inspired by the house salad I’ve enjoyed at Thai restaurants, this is the perfect companion to several of the Thai-style dishes in this book. A bigger portion of this can almost be the centerpiece of a meal, served with a simple tofu or tempeh dish.

One of the most fun things about traveling is finding food inspiration and ideas. I’m most drawn to simple preparations with creative twists. In Israel, I loved the myriad varieties of salads, which are served morning, noon, and night. I could spend a month in Israel just studying the salads. On a recent trip, my family’s last lunch before heading to the airport was at a lovely little café in the suburbs of Tel Aviv. One of the dishes we enjoyed was a mixture of sweet and white potatoes on a bed of greens. Nothing fancy, but it looked great and tasted even better. Once home, I made my copycat version of the salad, with two additions: a diced avocado mixed into the greens, and a topping of pumpkin seeds. It may look fancy, but it’s very easy to make. The pleasing presentation makes it a good salad to impress company, as well as to bring to potlucks.

In my part of the world (the Northeastern United States), we get the best mangos and avocados in mid-to late winter, just when our winter-weary palates need them most. This relishlike salad is not only scrumptious but also lovely to look at. It’s especially welcome with Southwestern-style tortilla dishes.

Here is a salad I enjoyed on my first trip to Paris. It was part of a fantastic, produce-filled lunch in a private residence in Montmartre, overlooking much of the city. The key to this simple salad is to use the best possible ingredients—specially the green beans. Serve as a first course with slices of crusty, whole-grain baguette or Italian bread.

This appetizing bean salad adds color and crunch to a meal. Make it to bolster grain dishes and pastas.

Here’s a nearly standard tabouleh recipe with a couple of interesting twists. Quinoa makes it fluffier and lighter than the traditional bulgur (not to mention even more nutritious), and pine nuts give it a rich flavor.

Luscious and yummy are rarely terms applied to salad, but I would be so bold as to use them to describe this one. Offbeat, colorful, and quick, it’s a dish I make often in winter months when cool, crunchy salads are less enticing.

This is an appetizing small side salad to serve when colorful bell peppers are plentiful. It goes well with pastas as well as grain dishes.

Crushed pineapple is the standout ingredient in this pleasant slaw. It provides a good balance to spicy or bold dishes. I like it with Southwestern fare like Tortilla Casserole (page 104), but my favorite dish to serve it with is Pasta Jambalaya (page 123).

Not only is this salad refreshing, it also contains many ingredients valued for their cleansing properties. Its fresh flavor is especially enticing to me in the spring, but it’s welcome all year round; in fact, I recommend this salad frequently throughout the book. I often make it when I want a refreshing contrast to a hearty, spicy, or bold dish.

When you need to add color and crunch to a dinner plate, this fruit-filled slaw is a pleasing option. I like using Granny Smith apples in this recipe, but use any crisp apple you have on hand. Make this salad before starting your meal’s centerpiece; it benefits from having time to let the flavors blend and the cabbage soften.

This colorful salad dresses up a plate, especially if the central dish is monochromatic. With spinach and oranges, it packs a lot of valuable vitamins. I recommend this salad frequently throughout the book.

This crisp salad is a delightful accompaniment to many Asian-style grain, noodle, tofu, or seitan dishes. I recommend it quite often throughout the book.

Here’s another good way to utilize root vegetables raw; the dressing adds a rich, delicious flavor.

The word daikon actually comes from two Japanese words, dai (large) and kon (root). And that’s just what it is. Daikon radish, a large white root vegetable, is often served grated in small quantities with Asian meals, since it’s considered a good digestive aid. I often combine it with one or two other vegetables—if one, that would be carrots, as presented here, and if two, I’ll also grate any broccoli stem I’ve saved in the fridge. It’s a refreshing little salad that goes with just about any kind of meal.

Like the previous recipe, the combination of grains and beans in this salad makes it an ideal centerpiece for a meal.

This spicy, nutty salad is an amalgam of Indonesian and Thai-influenced ingredients and seasonings.