SALATA: Mediterranean salads for all occasions by Michael Rantissi & Kristy Frawley

From Australians Michael Rantissi and Kristy Frawley from Kepos Street Kitchen and authors of the popular Hummus & Co, comes SALATA, their new cookbook. In the introduction, co-author Michael Rantissi says he wanted to push the boundaries of what you would normally consider a salad in this cookbook. The result is a fabulous collection of over ninety plant-forward Mediterranean-inspired salads, which are creative, healthy, and delicious. And all the ingredients are readily available in our supermarkets, although it is best to head to a farmer’s market to shop for the freshest seasonal produce.

The book is organised into four chapters to suit any occasion.

1.     Every Day, Every Night. These salads are really easy to put together for family meals.

2.     Occasions. Festive salads for when hosting family celebrations or to take to a friend’s party.

3.     Simple salads. Salads which use very few ingredients and take no time at all to make.

4.     Everything that goes with salad. A chapter full of handy dressings, protein hits and crunchy toppings which will allow you to add endless variations to your salads.

The beautiful photographs are bound to entice you into the kitchen. Here are some we have tried and enjoyed.

Roasted broccoli and borlotti bean salad.

As broccoli is plentiful now, this recipe appealed. I substituted cannelloni beans as they have a similar creamy texture as there were some in my pantry and that worked well. The broccoli was roasted until it was golden and tender and when it had cooled down to room temperature it was combined with chopped parsley and chilli and tossed with a date molasses dressing. It made a very filling nourishing meal.

Warm chickpea Salad

For those who love hummus, this is a must! You could call it a deconstructed hummus. For this salad cooked chickpeas and fried onion were tossed with a lemon tahini dressing. And a green chili persillade was drizzled over the top. Served with pita bread alongside it was a quick and tasty meal. It is a recipe I will come back to often.

Spanakopita Salad

This salad between two layers of crisply baked filo pastry looks like a gigantic toasty pie! And it is far less time consuming to make than the iconic Greek Spanakopita pie but is equally delicious. This is another keeper!

Salma’s Canteen Waldorf Salad

In this creative spin on a traditional Waldorf salad both the celery leaves and the stalks are used so avoiding food waste. And the addition of dried cranberries added a vibrant pop of colour.

Day old bread Salad

It is a cross between two famous salads from the Mediterranean, Panzanella and a Fattoush. Stale sourdough bread is cubed and baked into crunchy golden croutons. These are scattered over a platter and topped with a salad. Such a clever way to use stale sourdough and prevent food waste. The whanau loved it!

Simple Tomato Salad.

Something I really like about this cookbook is how simple many of the recipes are and this is the simplest! Based on only two ingredients, chopped tomatoes and basil leaves, which are dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing, it was super quick to assemble but would of course taste better in summer with sun-ripened tomatoes.

Peanut and sesame dukkah.

It comes from Everything that goes with salad, the last chapter in the book ‘Think of these recipes as delicious new additions that you didn’t even know you needed’ it says. And I love how this chapter encourages you to be playful, to mix and match to your heart’s content and use them to create your own salads. This Peanut & sesame dukkah would make a special crunchy topping for any salad, as well as for eggs. dips and roasted vegetables. I can’t wait to experiment! And as it has a shelf life of one year I will find plenty of ways to do so. It would also make a special gift for a friend.

If you judged a cookbook by the number of sticky notes on recipes you want to try, this would be a champion! They all look so healthy, colourful, and delicious! I will be coming back to this cookbook again and again!

Reviewer: Lyn Potter

Murdoch Books