Pure comfort: mini croissant cereal by L'Appartement 4F.

As soon as I saw the title and the dish on the cover – what looked like mandarins on a plate of luscious yogurt (it’s burrata, I later learned), swooshed with olive oil – I knew I had to buy the new cookbook, Salad Freak.

As spring arrived, I craved brightness and crunch to cut through the warm, sludgy, mostly-beige, and definitely not terribly nutritious diet I’d subsisted on for most of the winter.

One problem: salads are wonderful in theory. In reality, they end up so boring when I make them. I needed some serious help to shake things up.

So this mandarin business? The genius of a salad cookbook with nary a green thing on the cover?! Immediate purchase. I knew my idea of what counts as a “salad” would be challenged, in a good way. (After doing some googling, I also learned that the author, Jess Damuck, worked with Martha Stewart for over a decade. That also helped in the decision to purchase. If a person knows a good salad from a great one, it's probably Martha.)

I spoke with Salad Freak author Jess Damuck to learn a bit more about her creative approach and gained some excellent recommendations along the way. Read on, below for the Q&A plus an excerpt recipe from the book. 🍊

—Alisha Ramos (@alisharamos)

This Week's Recommendations

On Salads as Self-Care

A Q&A with Jess Damuck, author of Salad Freak, on her creative path, hosting fun gatherings, and common salad mistakes.

Your career path has been incredibly varied: you've been a food stylist, an editor, a producer, and now a cookbook author. Looking back, what has been the guiding light for you as you decide what you’d like to do next, whether that's a creative project or a professional endeavor?

When looking back on everything, the thing that's had the most influence on me has been working at Martha Stewart and working with Martha herself. The thing about Martha is that she's just really curious and she always wants to figure out what the new thing that's happening is. 

Being curious is really the best thing that you can do as a person in the creative field because there is always something or someone that you can learn from. So I think that was really my attitude, especially while I was at Martha, during a time when the magazine industry was changing very rapidly.

When the magazine team wasn't doing too well and they had opportunities available on their digital platforms, I switched roles. Later, I got more involved with video and dove right into that medium. I think it’s helped me have a more well-rounded skillset.

Making the book was a dream opportunity because it was combining a lot of these things that I'd been doing for quite a while now, but getting to do it for myself. 

What advice or simple tips can you give to our readers who’d like to throw gatherings (like your epic LA dinners at Benny Blanco’s) this summer, but feel intimidated or overwhelmed by the process?

The first thing that I have to remind myself all the time is that the whole point of the party is getting people together. So even if that means you have to pick up some pre-made dips or chips or you end up making a dish that you've made a hundred times before but you know you can make really well—it's really just about getting people around your table. 

People love to be fed. It's not the time to try out crazy new, complex recipes or techniques that you've never tried before. Anything you, as the host, can do to make yourself feel less stressed out will be beneficial. If you're stressed out, it's going to change the energy of the whole thing. It's good to realize that it really doesn't have to be perfect.

The details that do matter are putting together a menu that sort of works and making sure there's music playing. Music is really important to me—it changes the whole feeling and mood of what's happening.

The other detail I try to pay attention to is spending a couple of extra minutes plating things to make them look really appealing. I also like to make sure that there are flowers on the table, clean napkins, and a tablecloth, but not being super fussy about it. These small things can make it feel really special, even if it's just your two best friends coming over.

That's a good reminder to remember that the focus is on the people and not to be a perfectionist about things.

Yeah. And if anybody ever asks if they can bring something (which they always do), just say yes. People are always happy to bring something, whether it's wine or some non-alcoholic option. It's always nice to have one less thing to worry about.

Do you have any go-to crowd-pleasing dishes that you tend to cook up for a large group?

I have to say the Little Gem salad from the book is something that I make almost every single time I have people over. It's so easy. The dressing has two ingredients: it's mayo with lemon zest and lemon juice, and you can make that ahead of time and prep your lettuce. It also has these amazing, crunchy hazelnuts that are toasted with butter and oil and pecorino cheese in place of a crouton. It also just goes with everything.
 

Going off topic a little—what's something that you've been loving recently that's worth trying?

Since moving to Los Angeles, I've gotten so into gardening. I love going to go check on my tomatoes before I start looking at what everybody's saying on Instagram. I love having something to ease into the day with.

Other than that, my partner and I have been studying a lot of Ram Dass's teachings. If you're interested in spirituality at all, he's an easy way to ease into that world, though of course, he's a flawed human, just like all of us.

I loved how you spoke about salads as self-care in the book. I know that term is a little outdated now, but I just love the emphasis that you put on mindfulness while you're prepping or creating a meal.

I think eating nutritious food, whether it's salads or not, is the nicest thing you can do for yourself. Even just the act of making it for yourself can feel so good. I know that there are so many times when I'm ready to press the button to order Postmates, but I know I have all this stuff in my garden or in the refrigerator. Just taking the time to even just throw together that Little Gem salad...it always feels so much better.

What music are you into these days?

I listen to a lot of electronic and Japanese ambient music. We've been listening to a lot of Domenique Dumont. It's the best dinner party music because it's on in the background and it creates an energy, but it doesn't take over the conversations. [Ed note: Jess creates excellent playlists to help set a groovy vibe.]

What’s your desert island kitchen tool?

The Microplane. Adding citrus zest to whatever I'm making—I can't not have that extra bit of brightness! It really does something special.

What’s a common salad mistake that you see home cooks making?

Overdressing or dressing the salad too soon is a big mistake I see. If leafy, tender greens are sitting in too much dressing, it's going to be soggy and it's not going to taste good. 

The other thing that is so important is to wash and dry the lettuce before you make a salad. Even if the lettuce comes washed, there's truly nothing worse than spending a ton of time making a beautiful salad, taking the first bite, and realizing there’s sand in it!
 

You can purchase Salad Freak on Bookshop or Amazon. Jess Damuck lives and works in both NYC and LA. You can follow along with Jess on Instagram @jessdamuck.

Interview has been lightly edited for clarity and conciseness. Photos courtesy of Jess Damuck.

Martha’s Mango and Mozzarella with Young Lettuces 

This Week's Reads

1. Is it possible to have too much therapy? (Refinery29)

2. “My mother started exhibiting signs of OCD when I was 5.” A touching comic. (Ruth Chan)

3. So Now Everyone Loves Anne Hathaway. Who else is curious about her role in Idea of You?! (Glamour)

4. Are you “hopping on a trend” or are you plagiarizing? (Vox)

5. All about that big house in Conversations With Friends. (The New York Times)

6. How to organize, clean, and maintain cookbooks. Nice to see such care going into preserving vintage cookbooks. (Wirecutter)

7. We are very pro “fugly hag stroll!” (Bustle)

8. Does short hair = “mom hair?” (Glamour)

9. Re: period tracking apps and digital privacy in light of Roe v. Wade: read these to make an educated decision for your data privacy while using such apps: How period tracking apps and data privacy fit into a post-Roe v. Wade climate (NPR) // Your phone could reveal if you've had an abortion (Washington Post)