Spring Salad

I made this spring salad for SavvyMom last year when we created a series of "green" recipes in honour of Earth Day. After months of feeling apathetic towards any type of greens, a sad side effect of pregnancy, I'm happy to be enjoying them again, and it’s this seasonal dish that’s been seducing me back to regular salad consumption.

Instead of tossing chunks of avocado – one of my favourite salad ingredients - into the bowl with the other veg, here it’s blitzed into the dressing with a creamy buttermilk base, one of my favourite flavours to pair with spring produce. Radishes, cucumber, zucchini, and Boston lettuce round out the remainder of the ingredients, and the entire bowl is garnished with crumbled feta cheese and crunchy sunflower seeds.

While I enjoy eating this for a quick and easy weekday lunch, it also makes a show-stopping side dish for any spring dinner party. Instead of plating individual bowls, fill a large one with the ingredients and plop it in the centre of the table so your friends can help themselves. Just be sure to serve the dressing on the side, as it’s thick and rich, and a dollop or three is all you need to brighten up the salad.

Boston Lettuce Salad with Avocado Green Goddess Dressing

For the dressing:

• ½ ripe avocado peeled
• ¾ cup buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 green onions, chopped
• ¼ cup packed parsley leaves
• ¼ cup packed basil leaves
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon fresh ground pepper

For the salad:

• 1 head Boston lettuce
• 4 Persian or mini cucumbers, thinly sliced
• 4-6 radishes, trimmed and thinly sliced
• 2 small green zucchinis, ends trimmed and thinly sliced lengthwise
• ¼ cup crumbled feta cheese
• 2 tablespoons sunflower seeds

1. To make the salad dressing, combine all of the ingredients in a food processor or blender and pulse until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasonings, if necessary. Store leftovers in the fridge for up to three days.

2. To assemble the salad, fill a large bowl with torn lettuce leaves and top with sliced cucumber and radish. Roll the pieces of zucchini and tuck them in and around the lettuce leaves, then scatter the crumbled feta over top of the dish. Garnish with sunflower seeds and serve with dollops of the dressing.

Comments

[Laureen Fox]

Yummy looking salad!

[Jan Scott]

Thanks, Laureen!