I’ve been in a salad state of mind. Odd for January that, actually, odd for me generally. Although I love vegetables, salad is not usually my default unless I have some very very good, fresh from the garden produce, and even then I tend to prefer cooked vegetables.
Part of my renewed interest in salads is because one of my cookbook club selections for this month is the new book, Sabzi, by Yasmin Khan. I like Khan’s previous books, Ripe Figs, Zaitoun and The Saffron Tales, and so was surprised that my reaction to this book has been decidedly meh.
There are a good dozen recipes or so I would consider cooking, and I cooked six of them, but even so my reaction to this book remains undecided.
Why don’t we move right to the recipes?
I made this fennel, avocado and pistachio salad early in the month, when I still had a nice fennel bulb in the fridge following holiday cooking. It was a lovely salad, with an appealing combination of textures and flavors. I was especially entranced by the way the fennel and the fresh tarragon played together, yielding a complex brightness, as well as the way the softness of the avocado both accented and softened the crisp anise of the fennel. . It reminded me that I need to put more tarragon in salads, something I did regularly when I lived in the Hudson Valley and grew tarragon. It seems I am going to be planting some tarragon in the garden.
This was the least successful recipe, one of those rare instances where, for me at least, the final dish was less compelling than any of the individual components were individually. The combination of roasted broccoli, radishes, and dates was delicious. I would happily serve this combination on its own as a side. This is remarkable in a way just because, although I love roasted radishes, I don’t often like them combined with other roasted vegetables. The curried tahini sauce was fabulous with broccoli and dates, but I did not like it with the radishes, or the lentils. I would have preferred a basic tahina sauce, or no tahina at all, I’ll likely throw dates Into future batches of roasted broccoli, and explore the options with radishes, but otherwise would not make this salad again.
Orange, radish and olive salad. Lovely, fresh, bright. I make a lot of variations on orange salads. Although this was very good, I can easily think of a dozen combinations I prefer.
On the other hand, labneh with persimmons and harissa was a standout and something I would never have thought of on my own. The combination of persimmons with lemon and harissa creates the perfect balance of sweet/tart/spice. With the creamy labneh and fresh mint, every bite seemed to be a satisfying symphony of tastes. I could eat this as suggested, as a part of a mezze, but I could also have a bowl of this for breakfast, a light meal, or even dessert. Persimmons are often hard to find here, but I am determined to put more effort into finding them next year.
Roasted Brussels sprouts with almonds, pomegranate and coriander. Basic roasted Brussels sprouts. I love the addition of pomegranate, but I’ve done that before.
Dalaar, a fresh herb salt, made here with coriander, basil, mint and parsley in lieu of the native herbs which are not available in this country. This was good on many dishes. I think the proportion of her salt to herbs was a little high, but I can adjust that.
Having reflected on what I have cooked from this book, I’ve come to the conclusion that is not the book for me. For the most part the recipes are simple, but so are the flavors. I found very little that was new or compelling. Perhaps the problem is just that I am jaded, that I have a lot of Eastern Mediterranean/Middle Eastern cookbooks, and I found no new insights. Aside from the persimmons, there is little here I cannot just whip up on my own, no cookbook needed. This is true of the persimmons as well, except that by the time persimmon season rolls around again, I will have forgotten.
But I am also wondering if my reaction is more about my own general sense that the “veg forward” trend has been done to death. Don’t get me wrong. I love vegetables and cook a great deal of them. And I have a good sized vegetable-focused, vegetarian, and even vegan cookbook collection. I’m just not seeing anything that I find particularly creative or new or fills a niche that hasn’t already been covered. Although I know the author spent a lot of time on this book, the production quality feels rushed, as if the publisher was desperate to capitalize on a trend. I think the book suffers for that, although I do not think this is in any way the author’s fault.
I’m still thinking about those persimmons though. I can’t imagine I would ever forget those persimmons.