Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Cookbook review: Twelve Months of Monastery Salads


I found this cookbook, Twelve Months of Monastery Salads: 200 Divine Recipes for All Seasons by Brother Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourrette, at the Salvation Army for $1.

So already it's a pretty good cookbook.

I'm not sure if it's still in print, you may have to hunt for a used copy--or better yet, see if your local library has it. (I always preview cookbooks from the library before I spend money on them.)

But it'll be worth the hunt. I'm not usually a fan of salad cookbooks ("salad cookbook" is a contradiction in terms), but this one is pretty neat. Among the 200 recipes you'll find: Monastery Deviled Egg Salad, St. Scholastica Fennel Salad (with Roquefort & Blue Cheese), St. Joseph Spinach Salad (with Mustard Vinaigrette), St. Benedict Cucumber Salad (with Curry Mayonnaise), St. John the Baptist Potato Salad and Transfiguration Wild Rice & Chickpea Salad (with Hazelnut dressing).

OK, the names are a little hokey, but the salads are not. They're divided by months, depending on what's in season, so that April has Fava Bean Salad, Egyptian Style, and November has a Pear and Watercress salad.

Apparently he's also written Twelve Months of Monastery Soups--I'm definitely going to try to find that!

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