Mixt Salads: A Chef's Bold Creations

The founder and executive chef of San Francisco's boutique salad joint Mixt Greens, Swallow gives top billing to the humble salad in a collection that is by turns lush, lavish and imaginative, including signature dishes like the Park Ave (grilled chicken, herb-roasted fingerling potatoes, grilled asparagus and Parmesan), its meaty mate the Bachelor (with Yukon Gold potatoes, filet mignon and Roquefort), the Tokyo (Kobe beef carpaccio with fried leeks) and the Grove (Honeycrisp apples, fennel, spiced walnuts and blue cheese). Organized by season, and prefaced with a guide to maximizing on-hand produce, this volume gives salad makers an imaginative push, though they may hit a wall trying to source key ingredients like aged sherry vinegar, sweetbreads, quail eggs, and hedgehog mushrooms. The salad-averse will appreciate the Porky-mixed greens, roasted butternut squash, pork tenderloin and port reduction-and Swallow's bunless Kobe beef cheeseburger, served atop butter lettuce. Though some may be disappointed in the selection of dressings, nearly all of which are vinaigrette variations, this is a vital, inspired and varied collection that even steak-and-potatoes fans can appreciate.