There’s salads. And then there’s salads. Bowls of veggies (or fruit) that are not your boring side salad of iceberg lettuce, raw onions, cucumbers and tomatoes. They’ve got texture , interesting additions and flavours that hit with every bite. The kind of salad that is a meal. Salad for Days is filled with such salads. True to its name, author Alice Zaslavsky provides pages of inspiration for turning a simple salad into a memorable meal.
Dietary Notes
This is a plant-based cookbook with the occasional addition of dairy or animal proteins (that can all be substituted).
Best For
Anyone who loves a bowl of veggies.
Cooking Level
Basic. It’s simple recipes with phenomenal flavours.
Instead of sharing a recipe you’d expect, I’m sharing her fruit salad, because who knew you can jazz up a bowl of fruit?
Fruit Salad with Zesty Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 tin lychees in syrup syrup reserved for the dressing
- 1 small pineapple peeled and sliced
- ½ ripe papaya peeled and cubed
- 1 mango peeled and cubed
- 1/4 cup passion fruit pulp
Thai Basil Dressing
- 4-5 Thai Basil stems leaves picked and reserved
- 1 thumb ginger grated
- 1 lime zested and juiced
- 1/4 cup reserved lychee syrup
Salted Macadamia Crumb
- ½ cup shredded coconut
- ½ cup raw macadamia nuts roughly chopped
- ½ tsp icing sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- To make the macadamia crumb, put the coconut and chopped macadamias in a frying pan over low heat and shake the pan until the coconut turns golden, then turn off the heat. Toss with icing sugar and sugar flakes and set aside to cool. Once cooled, this can be stored in an airtight jar until ready to serve.
- To make the dressing, pour ¼ cup of the reserved lychee syrup into the bottom of a large mixing bowl. Whack the Thai Basil stems with the back of your knife and pop these into the bowl to steep for 10 minutes. Squeeze the grated ginger in your fist to extract the juice in the bowl, discarding the fuzz, and add the lime zest and juice.
- Remove the basil stems from the bowl and discard. Add the fruit to the mixing bowl and gently fold through the dressing, tasting and adding extra lime to balance the sweetness if need be. Set aside to macerate for up to 15 minutes before serving.
- Just before serving, add the basil leaves to the mixing bowl and toss about. Tumble into a serving bowl and finish with macadamia crumb sprinkle.
Salad for Days is published by Murdoch Books and distributed by Jonathan Ball Publishers. It is available here.
