Beautiful Salads

by Pam Powell

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Beautiful Salads is a style and recipe guide for organic dressings and salad by Pam Powell. Due out 5th Oct 2020 from Quarto on their Voyageur imprint, it's 160 pages and will be available in hardcover format.

The book is laid out in a logical and easy to understand way. The introductory content covers ingredients and preparation. The following sections contain the recipes arranged thematically by season: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Each season contains approximately 20 recipes (75 total by my count).

Ingredient measurements are supplied in American measurements only. There wasn't a conversion chart for metric measures included in the eARC provided for review. Nutritional information is also not included. Extra tips or recipe alternatives are listed in sidebars with the recipes. The recipes themselves are fairly straightforward and are made with easily sourced ingredients. Many are very simple, none of them are overly complex. The book does include an index and resource list.

The photography is clear and abundant; most of the recipes are illustrated, and the photographs which are included are crisp and well done. Serving suggestions are attractive and appropriate. In fact, the photography was one of the highlights of this cookbook. The other huge plus for me was the varied and delicious dressings. There are so many variations on vinaigrette and dressing that just that aspect of the collection will keep readers busy for ages.

This is a large collection of recipes and even allowing for the fact that some of them are similar to others in the same category, this will keep salad fans going for ages. These are well developed and attractive dishes, beautifully presented and full of tasty raw and unprocessed ingredients and enhanced with dressings which run the gamut from traditional to trendy.

We're definitely going to try more of these. Well written book, tasty food.

Five stars. This is a solid recipe book which will be used. It would make a superlative housewarming gift to a friend or family member - college student, new graduate, newlyweds, kids flying the nest, etc. Salads can fill so many roles, from side dish to main meal. I've tested several of these recipes as a work lunch in my bento box and they work very well for that purpose also.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.