Book excerpt: The humble salad: so often overlooked and unloved. Not so for Matt Wilkinson. For Matt, the salad is a culinary main event and a dish that’s as diverse in its versatility as it is in flavour. In Mr Wilkinson’s Simply Dressed Salads Matt shares his favourite salad recipes – one for every week of the year, showcasing the very best seasonal ingredients, along with whimsical musings for quick salad ideas and tips for how to get the very best from in-season produce. Complete with salad dressing ‘family trees’ that show how to use leftover dressings, delicious cordial recipes that make use of the seasons’ glut, and filled with beautiful photography and illustrations throughout, Mr Wilkinson’s Simply Dressed Salads shows us that salad is so much more than the sum of its parts. Originally hailing from Yorkshire in England, chef and author Matt Wilkinson lives in Melbourne with his family. He part-owns and runs the acclaimed café and restaurant Pope Joan, alongside his produce store Hams and Bacon. Matt is the author of Mr Wilkinson’s Favourite Vegetables. Mr Wilkinson’s Simply Dressed Salads is his second cookbook.