Book Review: A Salad for All Seasons by Harry Eastwood

I was sent a copy of “A Salad for All Seasons” By Harry Eastwood to review, along with some lovely Florette salad to go with it.

Being one of those people for whom “a salad” is “some lettuce and whatever’s in the fridge,” this book was a bit of a revelation! The first revelation was that Harry Eastwood is in fact a woman. She was a co-presenter on the Channel 4 show Cook Yourself Thin and has published a couple of other recipe books.

The book begins with a dictionary of leaves for each season – a photo of what they look like, their name, and how they taste. This is especially useful for those of us who tend to stick mainly to iceberg when we’re picking our salads!

After this, the book is split into sections by season, with each boasting several recipes for salads. What I like about these recipes is that they’re not just a bunch of greenery to go with your meal, but a meal on their own. They include fish, bacon, cheese, fruit and dressings – everything you need to make a delicious meal.  At the end of the book, there are recipes for glazes, dressings, pestos and vinegars. Each one has a photo above it, so that you can see what your concoction is supposed to look like – always a bonus!

I love the way this book is set out – each recipe has its own page, with a large photo of the finished dish to tempt your taste buds. There’s a little blurb at the top of the page, about the salad, what it goes well with and other notes.  Many recipes also have a note at the bottom to say what you could swap in – for example, how to make the salad vegetarian, different fish etc you could use.

This is one of those gorgeous books that you could happily just sit and look through for a long while. The recipes are simple and easy to follow, and don’t call for outlandish ingredients you couldn’t easily find on the shelves of your local supermarket.  I’m definitely looking forward to trying out some more of the recipes in the coming weeks!