Introduction

Salads have never been as varied or as exciting as they are right now! Today, the idea of having a salad as a main meal instead of just as a starter or side dish, no matter what the season, no longer seems as strange as it did a decade ago. We’ve come to appreciate that salads are not just for summer, they can be enjoyed all year round. From what I witness in my restaurants around the world, people are eating differently: sharing plates and small dishes are now commonplace, and the abundance of vegetables in a dish is almost a given. Healthy foods, whether that means more grains and vegetables, less gluten and dairy, less animal protein, sustainably caught fish or animals raised with impeccable farming methods, are what we all seem to want in our diets. These are all things I’ve been advocating, and the way I’ve been cooking and eating, for as long as I can remember – and salads are a terrific way to bring all of this together! In 2005, I wrote a much-loved book called Salads, the new main course. This book is a way for me to update what I wrote a decade ago.