She Makes Me Look Good
Cookbook Club kicking off
New here? Hi! If you want to get right down to business, scroll down for the video link where I demo Salsa Verde Chicken Salad, and all the way to the bottom for the recipe.
Oh, Susie, Susie, Susie.
I have known about Susie Theodorou much longer than she’s known me. Susie, an acclaimed food stylist and sassy sardonic Brit (by way of Greece), had been accomplished in the food world way before I somehow sweet-talked myself into an editorial job at Everyday Food in 2009. Later, at Bon Appétit, Susie was regularly the stylist responsible for beautifying dishes that had been developed by those of us in the test kitchen, and because part of my job was to make sure the food was “right,” she and I started to log serious hours on set.
For those who don’t know exactly what food stylists do, the role is to take other people’s recipes and make them look as stunning as possible, while also executing the creative direction set by the art director and photo team. This requires cooking the recipe as written, but also using magic to make that food continue to look photogenic while photographers adjust angles and exposures, prop stylists place and replace serving utensils, napkins, salt cellars, and all other manner of table dressings. Tick tock, tick tock. Lots of opinions, lots of back and forth, and still, the food sits. Then, once the team is happy with the shot, the set is disassembled and readied for the next recipe.
On a magazine shoot, getting through seven recipes in a day is customary. For a cookbook shoot, a single day could mean knocking out 10 recipes or more. Here are the qualities that can sabotage a day like that: being human. Here are the qualities that make Susie the G.O.A.T.: being an amazing cook and not just an assembler of ingredients; being unflappable; knowing where to buy the most alluring produce, proteins, and cheeses, along with hard-to-find ingredients; hiring assistants who she respects and who clearly respect her back; having opinions but not taking things personally; working hard as f*ck.
I am a solid recipe developer and writer, but I am not a food stylist. Styling my own recipes at BA was not even a consideration. Choosing a food stylist to represent your recipes is a lot like trusting a hair cutter—you’re asking this person, an artist, to make YOU look good, even if the choices you've made in your dishes don’t reflect their instincts. In 2017 (!!?!!??), when it was time for me to make decisions about the team that I wanted to work with on Where Cooking Begins, Susie topped a one-person list. There was no list; it was just her name on a piece of paper. Thrillingly, she said yes, and we worked together again in 2020 on That Sounds So Good, which was conveniently photographed (by Gentl and Hyers), during the height of the pandemic.
After 10 days of location shooting in my house, all of us wearing masks, cats traipsing through, my older son hired to be the P.A., extra fridge in my front hallway, we were bonded (or at least I was deeptly attached to Susie). Susie’s excellence makes my work better, and while I also believe that should be everyone’s objective when collaborating on a creative pursuit, she’s in a different league. Susie is also a compassionate, funny, and attentive friend, and I’m lucky to get to break bread with her on and off set.
So today, we swing the camera onto Susie herself, with the sole intention of boosting her new book, No-Cook Cookbook (photographed by the great Alex Lau!). The way Susie approaches this concept is what makes it brilliant; it’s about assembling beautiful and nourishing meals, and she delivers both the shopping strategy and culinary skill to make not-cooking still feel transformative and very satisfying. The book is filled with recipes, ideas, expansive guides to store-bought condiments and toppings, and many homemade condiments and dressings that can be deployed to make food that tastes and looks super dynamic without creating a lot of work for you, the cook.
This last part—about multi-functional elements—speaks to me the most, as a chronic anti-food prep person. I respect those who can plan out the whole week, but I am not one of them, and have always advised my readers to prep building blocks for meals rather than actual whole dishes. For example: cooking grains that could turn into grain salads or stir-fries, or soups, or savory fritters. Same with Susie. I chose her Salsa Verde Chicken Salad recipe specifically because of the ideas embedded in it. The salsa verde can be a lot of things depending on your needs, but pairing it with rotisserie chicken, another evergreen supermarket purchase, compounds both the ease of making and the dish’s payoff potential.
I like my rotisserie chicken torn off the carcass and then dragged through squeezed-out dollops of Kewpie and sriracha on the overturned plastic chicken dome, but I’m lazy. Susie devotes an entire chapter to the flock, a creative flex that I think you’ll appreciate. This is just one of the many recipes she includes.
It’s possible I haven’t expressed strongly enough how brilliant of a food stylist Susie is. When I work with her, I am reminded of the deep talent, ease, and artistry that accompanies decades of experience and expertise. This is why we are embracing getting older, people! Her skill is on display on every page of her book, whether it’s in her styling in the recipe photos, the recipes, which she developed, or the sections that cover strategy, advice, and sourcing. A real triple threat, that one. I love this woman with all my heart and hope very much that you’ll pre-order her book.
xoCLM
September 2, 2024
Cookbook Club: Salsa Verde Chicken Salad with Kale
Adapted from No-Cook Cookbook by Susie Theodorou
The salsa verde reprinted here is one of many dressings that are used repeatedly throughout Susie’s book. If you have your favorite store-bought variety, feel free to use that. One of Susie’s favorite brands is Side-Dish (Getsidedish.com). Choose a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket that is still very hot and juicy in the bag, to guarantee freshness. One (2-pound/ 900g) rotisserie chicken will serve four people; bones removed, it gives 1 pound/450g/4 cups chicken meat, shredded or sliced.
For the Salsa Verde
MAKES 1 ½ CUPS/375ML
2 tablespoon each of finely chopped parsley, cilantro, chives, and dill (1 cup/60g in total)
1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary
1 shallot, finely diced
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped green olives or capers in brine, drained
½ cup/120ml extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil (optional)
Kosher salt; freshly ground pepper
For the Chicken and Assembly
1 cup/225g shredded rotisserie chicken (white, dark, or a mixture)
1 small handful Tuscan kale, leaves separated and torn into pieces
½ small fennel, very thinly sliced
½ beefsteak or heirloom tomato, coarsely chopped
½ medium avocado, coarsely chopped
Make the Salsa Verde
Place the parsley, cilantro, chives, dill, and shallot in a mixing bowl and stir in the vinegar, pomegranate molasses, olives or capers, and olive oil. Add the sesame oil, if using. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper as needed.
Assemble the Salad
Place the chicken in a large bowl and toss with ½ quantity of Salsa Verde (cover and refrigerate remaining sauce for another use). Add the kale, fennel, and tomato and season with salt and pepper. Add the avocado and toss gently to combine; try not to obliterate the avocado.
I think cookclub is a really good idea....
Carla, thank you for the the episode on No-Cook Cooking. I thught you were brilliant, very much enjoyed all your side-comments, alternatives you added. I loved it...Hearing my name so much was a bit uncomfortable. As much of a big-mouth that I am at work, I don't like to be in the spot-light. Thank you