Our cookbook of the week is Salad for Days by Alice Zaslavsky, an award-winning Australian author and broadcaster.
Jump to the recipes:
barbecued adjapsandal with adjika yogurt dressing, yampers (camper’s jacket yams), and Swiss chard and broccoli tumble with herby avocado dressing.
Alice Zaslavsky ’s joyful way with vegetables can’t help but draw you in. Her recipes strike a rare balance — as easygoing and enticing as they are educational, which isn’t surprising, given Zaslavsky’s background. The award-winning Australian author and broadcaster used to be a middle-school teacher.
In her fourth cookbook, Salad for Days (Murdoch Books), Zaslavsky takes her veg-loving ways to a natural place. Quoting 1990s-era Homer Simpson , she acknowledges that salads haven’t always gotten the respect they deserve. But times have changed. “As a global force of eaters, I think we’re ready for more salads.”
When we spoke via video call, Zaslavsky, who lives between the Mornington Peninsula and Melbourne, had just finished breakfast at her parents’ house. “Salad, of course, on the table,” she says, laughing, “with bratwurst.”
Zaslavsky was born in Tbilisi, Georgia, and emigrated to Australia with her family in 1990. In some Western cuisines, salads may be an afterthought relegated to side status, but in Georgia, they’re a mainstay. “We don’t call them salads, necessarily. Each dish has its own name and purpose. Some of them are smaller, some of them are bigger, and they all add up to this supra (feast) and this incredible kind of kaleidoscope.”
She extends this sense of bounty to Salad for Days, a year-round guide to filling your plate with vegetables.
With all she does, whether as the host of A Bite To Eat With Alice , a nightly cooking show on ABC, or in her cookbooks, Zaslavsky tries to evoke joy. “That’s my word.” In the nearly 500-page In Praise of Veg (2022) — her “vegetable bible,” which so far has been translated into six languages in 14 countries — it’s wrapped up in vivid colour. Her third book, Better Cooking (2024), centred on skills to build kitchen confidence while having fun. With Salad for Days, “I tried to contain the joy in a way that made it feel very accessible to anyone.”
The result is curated and intentional, with space for cooks to find themselves in. “We’re so bombarded with information and imagery, and more, more, more. This is my pared-back, less-is-more book.”
Reflecting this streamlined approach, there are just two chapters: Warmer Days and Cooler Days. Zaslavsky bookends the 80 recipes with shortcuts to finding one that suits your cravings or the contents of your crisper. A dressings index divides them by category, such as spicy and funky or zippy and zesty. And, since salad-making often starts with what you already have, the book concludes with a recipe breakdown by vegetable.
“I’m putting myself in the mind of a modern cook. We’ve got aspirations, but we’ve also got deadlines, limited bandwidth and multiple tabs open, and I want this book to feel like you can take a breath. I’ve got you. Whether you feel like telling me what the weather’s doing, what you’ve got, or if you want something zippy or creamy, I’m meeting you where you are and with what you need. And I think it all comes back to that idea that I’m feeling useful and adding value.”
The beauty of salads is that they often involve more assembly than cooking, highlights Zaslavsky. “Effort-to-return is one reason I love salad-making.” As in her native Georgia, where an abundance of vegetable dishes sit side by side, she creates opportunities for mixing and matching, noting what each recipe is “friends with.” Serve barbecued adjapsandal with adjika yogurt dressing alongside cauliflower tabbouleh with lemony tahini and pomegranate, for example, or yampers (camper’s jacket yams) with a honey-and-juniper slaw.
Zaslavsky takes a generous view of the form. As she writes, “No longer merely a bowl of leaves, Salad 2.0 can be just about anything you want it to be.” When developing the recipes for Salad for Days, she started with the vegetable, “as always,” and considered the 30-odd most commonly bought varieties. She thought about their density, seasonality and occasionality. For instance, asking, “Why would people buy a cauliflower, and how might they make it the hero?” resulted in her cauliflower korma crown and cardamom brown rice. “Rather than doing a roast chook (chicken), why not do a roast cauli but treat it more like a baked rice dish?”
She’s worked with home economist Jane Grylls for 13 years and describes their process in improv comedy terms: “Yes, and …” They riffed off each other and spreadsheeted the recipes to ensure a balance. Acknowledging that people associate salads with warmer days, Zaslavsky stretched the definition for cooler ones. “You could, in another context, say, ‘But Alice, is that not just a stir-fried noodle?’ But then, it’s about how much vegetable and how much green you add. It’s about the essence of it.”
In April, Zaslavsky wrapped 100 episodes of A Bite To Eat With Alice after six months of filming. The experience of developing recipes for a nightly cooking show has given her a new outlook — the product of “flying hours.” She compares the evolution to starting as a hobby pilot and becoming a commercial airline, flying hundreds of people multiple times a day. She’s clear on what kinds of recipes viewers want because they tell her.
“My inbox is always open,” says Zaslavsky, referencing a direct message she had received that morning from a woman wondering if lamb schmaltz would be too intense for knedle. (The answer was yes.) “People are wondering those sorts of things, so how can I offer them the same boundaries I’ve learned? The same kind of ‘yes, and-ness’ that I and my home economists love to play with. How can I open that gateway for the home cook as well?”
This awareness has rippled out to all aspects of her work. From the recipes to the format, Zaslavsky says that every part of Salad for Days has been done with intent.
For the first time, she went with a soft cover because she wanted the book to be at an accessible price point; in Australia, it’s in its fourth reprint. The pebbled cover is wipe-clean so that any dressing spatters can be washed away.
“When I was describing the texture, I wanted it to feel kind of bumpy — textural, a bit organic. But then, when I held it in my hand, the matte of it felt like skin. You hold it in your palm, and the matte is skin-true. Skin to skin. And it’s like I’m physically holding your hand while we make this together. And that’s exactly what I want and more than I could have asked for.”
BARBECUED ADJAPSANDAL WITH ADJIKA YOGURT DRESSING
Serves: 4-6
1 large or 2 medium eggplants, about 500 g (1 lb 2 oz), sliced into 1 cm (3/8 inch) discs
2 large zucchini, about 400 g (14 oz), sliced into 1 cm (3/8 inch) discs
1 large red onion, about 250 g (9 oz), sliced into 1 cm (3/8 inch) rings
4 large truss (vine-ripened) tomatoes, about 400 g (14 oz), quartered vertically
1/4 cup (60 mL) extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing
Adjika:
4 garlic cloves
1/4 cup (40 g) sun-dried tomatoes, drained
1 cup drained piquillo peppers, about 250 g (9 oz)
1/4 tsp mild chili flakes
15 g (1/2 oz) cilantro stems, leaves reserved
15 g (1/2 oz) parsley stems and leaves
15 g (1/2 oz) holy basil, Thai basil or young regular basil leaves, plus extra for garnish
30 mL (1 fl oz) neutral oil (I like sunflower or grapeseed here)
1 tsp ground fenugreek
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp salt flakes
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp pepper
Final bits and bobs:
1 cup (230 g) natural yogurt
Step 1
Preheat the barbecue or grill plate until smoking.
Step 2
Pop eggplant and zucchini on one tray and onion and tomato on another. Brush the eggplant generously with olive oil (you can use an olive oil spray if you like). The zucchini doesn’t need as much oil — the residual oil on the grill is plenty.
Step 3
Place the eggplant on the open grill side of the barbecue for 10-15 minutes, turning halfway, until cooked through and with defined char marks (more is more with eggplant, really). Transfer the cooked eggplant slices to the upper rack to keep warm (if you don’t have an upper rack, pop them back onto the tray and loosely cover with foil). Grill the zucchini for 6-8 minutes, flipping halfway.
Step 4
Repeat with the tomato and onion, until they are slightly blackened and blistered and seeping out juice. As each item is cooked, introduce them to the eggplant on the upper rack (or in the loosely covered tray) to keep warm, too.
Step 5
Make the adjika by putting all of the ingredients into a small blender and whizzing until smooth. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
Step 6
When ready to serve, blob the yogurt and the adjika together on a large serving platter, schmearing with a flexible spatula or the back of a spoon to create a marbled pattern. Put the warm grilled vegetables on top and finish with extra olive oil, reserved coriander leaves and extra basil leaves.
YAMPERS (CAMPER’S JACKET YAMS)
Serves: 4-6
6-8 small sweet potatoes, about 1 kg (2 lb 4 oz), washed
100 g (3 1/2 oz) red cabbage, finely shredded
1 carrot, about 100 g (3 1/2 oz), finely shredded
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp salt flakes
Sour cream and chive drizzle:
100 g (3 1/2 oz) sour cream
50 g (1 3/4 oz) whipping cream
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp + 2 tsp finely chopped chives, plus extra for garnish
1/2 tsp salt flakes
1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
Final bits and bobs:
50 g (1 3/4 oz) baby spinach leaves
80 g (2 3/4 oz) cheddar cheese, grated
1 cup (200 g) corn kernels (see note)
2 tbsp + 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
Step 1
Pop sweet potatoes onto a lined tray and into a cold oven. Crank the heat to 220C (430F) or 200C (400F) fan forced (convection), then roast them nudey rudey (undressed) for 40 minutes, until they blister, burst and yield to the touch.
Step 2
Make the sour cream and chive drizzle by whisking the ingredients together, tasting and seasoning with more salt and pepper if needed.
Step 3
Toss together shredded cabbage, carrot, vinegar and salt, then season to taste with more salt and a generous crack of pepper.
Step 4
To assemble, lay a bed of baby spinach in the base of a large shallow bowl, then arrange the baked sweet potatoes, still in their jackets, over the top. Pierce into each with whatever implement is to hand by criss-crossing, then squashing down a little to expose the vibrant orange (or purple!) innards. Sprinkle the cheddar cheese over the innards while still warm, to let the cheese melt.
Step 5
Pour half of the sour cream and chive drizzle over the top in broad strokes, then tumble on the cabbage and carrot slaw and the cooked corn. Finish off with more of the drizzle over the top, then sprinkle with extra chives and drizzle with the extra virgin olive oil. Crack pepper on and call it a day.
Note: Using tinned corn is more authentically campy, but if you have fresh cobs, boil for 4 minutes, then shave off the kernels.
SWISS CHARD AND BROCCOLI TUMBLE WITH HERBY AVOCADO DRESSING
Serves: 4-6
1 broccoli head
1 small fennel bulb, about 200 g (7 oz), fronds reserved for garnish
1/2 bunch Swiss chard, leaves only
2 tbsp + 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
300 g (10 1/2 oz) green grapes, halved
Herby avocado dressing:
2 spring onions (scallions), green parts only, white parts finely sliced and reserved
1/2 cup coarsely chopped dill
1/2 cup coarsely chopped parsley leaves
1/4 cup (60 mL) extra virgin olive oil
1-2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp + 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 ripe avocado (a creamier variety like Hass)
1 tbsp + 1 tsp tahini
1 tsp dijon mustard
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp salt flakes
1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
Final bits and bobs:
2 tbsp + 2 tsp pepitas (pumpkin seeds), toasted
Step 1
Boil 2 cups (500 mL) of water. Trim and peel the broccoli stem, then slice it thinly along with the florets, following the shape of the broccoli. Do the same with the fennel bulb. Pop both into a heatproof colander and pour the boiling water over the top.
Step 2
Roll the Swiss chard leaves up and thinly shred with your sharp knife. Rub the leaves with the olive oil and a pinch of salt flakes to macerate.
Step 3
To make the dressing, blitz all of the herby avocado dressing ingredients in a food processor to a thin paste. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed.
Step 4
Toss the drained veg, rubbed Swiss chard and the grapes together in a serving dish, then drizzle generously with the dressing (feel free to leave any leftovers in a jug on the table) and finish with a sprinkle of pepitas, reserved spring onion whites and fennel fronds.
Recipes and images excerpted from Salad for Days by Alice Zaslavsky. Text copyright ©2024 by Alice Zaslavsky. Photography ©2024 Rochelle Eagle. Recipes and images reprinted with permission of Murdoch Books.
Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our cookbook and recipe newsletter, Cook This, here.
