My first salad choice from Salad Love: 260 Crunchy, Savory, and Filling Meals You Can Make Every Day by David Bez published by Penguin Random House Canada went well. Chorizo, Green Olives & Whole-Wheat Pasta receive four out of five wooden spoons.
My first test was one that had ingredients I loved. My second choice was a little riskier.
Above you will get to see me going through the cookbook worrying about the recipes.
I adore sun-dried tomatoes and potatoes but the salad dressing looked very basic to me. Also, I had not used cider vinegar in a dressing before. Again the recipe called for dried red pepper flakes which I do not like so I had to omit them. I really am trying to follow the recipes but it has not been easy.
The Recipe
You need to have 2 roasted potatoes. The recipe does not say how to roast them, just that you need them.
I gather once again the author David Bez used leftover roasted potatoes when he made this recipe. At my house, there is no such thing as leftover roasted potatoes! Leftovers? Seriously?
I mean who would have leftovers of these beauties?
I sliced two small red potatoes in half, added some oil, salt and pepper and put in a 425F oven for half an hour. Then I turned them over for another half hour until they were nice and golden and baked-through.
You will also need: 2 1/2 ounces mixed baby salad greens (I used my own green mix), handful of chopped sun-dried tomatoes and 2 sliced scallions.
For the dressing you need: 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 tsp cider vinegar, pinch of salt, pepper and dried red pepper flakes (as I mentioned earlier, I omitted).
Foodie Results
This was BORING! Not just boring, it was harsh thanks to the cider vinegar which I did not enjoy. Perhaps if there was some raw garlic in there or shallots… FLAVOUR!!! But no, boring and brutal.
This did not come together as a cohesive recipe at all and no, I do not think it is because I did not add dried red pepper flakes. Everything remained separate and basic and I really hated forcing myself to eat this salad after wasting all the time and energy making it. I got my bottle of balsamic and gave it a good sprinkle and it still bored the hell out of me.
I would rather crazy-obscene flavours that have no right being together than being bored. Being boring is the one foodie faux pas and offence I can not forgive.
This recipe gets one out of four wooden spoons. The reason why it gets a token spoon is because it is vegan and there are some people out there who might appreciate it. I am not one of them. What a total bummer. I hated not loving this salad.
Wow, definitely not a hit for you! It’s so rotten when food disappoints! I love the idea of this cookbook though. I am right into the idea of salads as meals! I’m glad the other one was a better fit. I’m not a fan of chorizo or I’d give it a try!
Thank you for sharing your experience, Suzie. And wow, your photo looks awesome even if you didn’t like the meal! (And lol, I laughed at the idea of leftover roasted potatoes too. Not in this house!)
Yup, not for me at all Jamie, it’s true. You might like this book actually, if you like salad dressings that can be kind of basic. You could definitely have the other one without the chorizo if you wanted, any kind of meat would be good.
Can you imagine leftover roasted potatoes? I bet we had barely enough when mom made them to go around, such a hit. One of my favourite things, LOL.
I love, love, love, organic raw Bragg’s organic apple cider vinegar. It’s all I use these days. Funny, we are all sometimes so different.
My apple cider was very basic so perhaps that’s an important distinction. Yes, we are different. There are a lot of people who like basic salads but not me. I want some serious flavour!!!!