For most of us, salads are mainly unplanned affairs. Which is why the idea of salad cookbooks can seem kind of silly.
Salad assembly generally is a pathetic — and pathetically easy — process that involves grabbing whatever greens haven’t wilted at the back of the refrigerator, piling on whatever other vegetables are handy — and if we’re feeling indulgent maybe some leftover protein and cheese — and calling it good. Follow a recipe? Not likely.
So I was surprised to be so smitten with “Salad Love,” a new cookbook by London salad blogger (three words not often strung together) David Bez. The book is based on his blog, “Salad Pride,” which he started in 2010, after challenging himself to create and consume a new salad every day for a year. The blog is a lovely source for salad inspiration, but the book is even lovelier.
Its main strength: “Salad Love” takes a counterintuitive approach to being a cookbook. There are no recipes, at least not in the traditional sense.