Cookbook: Salad Days

Salad Days
Main-Course Salads for a First-Class Meal

by Marcel Desaulniers
Photography by Peter Johansky

salad days

It's impossible to imagine that the "guru of ganache" would ever give up chocolate. But the internationally acclaimed author of the best-selling cookbooks Death By Chocolate and Death By Chocolate Cookies has had his fill of sweets—at least for the moment—and is ready to focus on the main course, for which he won a James Beard Award (best book, single subject—The Burger Meisters, S&S, 1994). Proving that his legendary creativity goes far beyond the dessert table, Marcel Desaulniers, the first chef from the South to be honored by the James Beard Foundation as a Great American Chef, redefines delicious, healthy eating with Salad Days: Main Course Salads for a First-Class Meal (Simon & Schuster Editions; May 1,1998; $27.50).

With his customary originality, wit, and zest, Chef Desaulniers brings us 90 inventive yet easy-to-follow recipes that expand the palate and the very definition of salad. Salads are no longer being considered an afterthought of a meal—they are the meal. From Smoked Catfish Fillet on Spicy Garden Slaw with Leaf Lettuce, Toasted Peanuts, Crispy Corn Biscuts, and Cayenne Dressing, to Minted Melon and Fresh Berries with Toasted Cashews, Chive-Scented Cream Cheese, Cinnamon Brioche, and Late-Harvest Wine Dressing accompanied by Lemon and Marjoram Shrimp, these succulent recipes are guaranteed to turn even the most finicky eater onto salads.

Organized into four main sections—Greens, Beans, Grains, and Fruits—each recipe is accompanied by three variations—vegetarian, meat or fowl, and fish. Add Grilled Mahimahi with Lemon and Dill to a salad of Marinated Cauliflower, Celery, and Red Onion, with Watercress, Quinoa, and Herbed Yogurt Dressing for a satisfying summer meal. Ale-Steamed Chicken Breast infuses a deliciously light flavor into a Roasted Root Vegetable Slaw with Gingered Apples, Raisins, and Walnuts, Apple and Rosemary-Scented Barley, and Brown Mustard Dressing. Desaulniers adds a chef's touch by including suggestions and tips for each recipe as well as a wine selection to accompany each salad.

Whether you're looking for an impressive meal in a main-course salad for special guests or simply a sweet Citrus Vinaigrette for fruit salad, or a zesty, light Lemon-Steamed Cod Fillet for one, Salad Days has just the palate-pleasing answer. The 90 recipes found in Salad Days will inspire your creativity, tantalize your tastebuds, and reawaken your enthusiasm for healthy eating.

About the Author:

Marcel Desaulniers, executive chef and co-owner of The Trellis Restaurant in Colonial Williamsburg, has been named in Food and Wine's Honor Roll of Chefs and in Cook's magazine's Who's Who of Cooking. In 1988 he became the first chef from the South to be honored by the James Beard Foundation as a Great American Chef. He has been inducted into the American Academy of Chefs, the Honor Society of the American Culinary Federation, and is on the Board of Trustees of the Culinary Institute of America.

Desaulniers is the author of six previous books which include Death by Chocolate, Desserts to Die For, and most recently, Death by Chocolate Chip Cookies. He lives, writes, and cooks in Williamsburg, Virginia. Peter Johansky is a freelance photographer who lives and works in New York.

Salad Days
Main-Course Salads for a First-Class Meal
by Marcel Desaulniers
Photography by Peter Johansky
Simon & Schuster Editions
1998, Hardcover, US $27.50
ISBN: 0-684-82261-X
Recipes & photos reprinted by permission