Italian Salads

Salads may not normally serve as appetizers in Italy, but the lavish photographs and simple recipes in Italian Salads will whet your appetite for the freshest of flavors from Florence, Rome and Palermo.

Inspired by journeys through Italy, food writer and cooking instructor Maxine Clark has assembled an appetizing collection of thirty favorite salads. “On my travels I have come across many types of salads, from light and delicate mixtures of spring leaves to hot salads made with potato mixed with salame in a warm dressing,” she writes. “There is something for everyone.” Indeed, her book offers exactly that.

In a brief introduction entitled Salads Italian-style, Clark outlines the place of salads in Italian cuisine. Highly regarded as aides to digestion and palate cleansers, salads are consumed year-round, having been assembled from the freshest of seasonal ingredients and simply adorned. She offers guidelines for dressing salads as the Italians do, relying on a sprinkling of salt, a splash of vinegar or lemon juice and the judicious use of extra-virgin olive oil, a simple preparation that allows the individual ingredients to shine.

The recipes are divided into four sections based on ingredients. Each recipe is preceded by a chatty introduction, in which Clark offers tips about preparation or substitutions, as well as tantalizing snippets from her Italian travels.

The first section, Fast & Fresh, contains recipes for the simplest of salads, most of which can be assembled in minutes. From Tomato, Mozzarella, and Basil, or classic Caprese salad, to Orange and Bitter Leaf Salad with Tomato and Olive Dressing, these healthy and delicate offerings sing of Summer.

Salads are heartier in the second section – entitled Cooked Vegetables – and dressings are zestier and more flavorful. Colorful Italian Christmas Salad features a mélange of cauliflower, roasted peppers, capers, olives and anchovies, while a warm potato salad is gilded with saffron and seasoned with sun-dried tomatoes, capers and basil. An incredible Warm Lentil, Arugula, and Mushroom Salad with Sunblushed Tomatoes is worth the price of the book alone.

The final two sections, Fish & Seafood and Meat, feature salads that can stand alone as meals. From inventive combinations such as the Moorish-influenced Shrimp, Chickpea, and Mint Salad with Chile Dressing to the simple and classic Prosciutto, Fig, Arugula, and Parmesan Salad, Clark delights in sharing the staggering variety of salads celebrated in Italian cuisine. Throughout her recipes, the philosophy present in her introduction is evident: High-quality ingredients require only the simplest of adornments to satisfy.

Enhanced by stunning, elegantly styled photographs, this little book is culinary gem. While not a necessary addition to any cookbook collection, it’s a lovely reminder of nature’s bounty and the cuisine that celebrates it so well.

Review by Tania Denesiuk

Tania Denesiuk writes, cooks and eats in Toronto, Canada.  Her culinary adventures can be found at www.candiedquince.ca.