Herby salad with an avocado dressing
(Serves 6 to accompany a main course or 2 – 3 as a light lunch)
The leaves and flowers of our annual herbs are a refreshing and interesting addition to any salad bowl. Combine as many types as you wish, mixed with a base of lettuce, the flavours remain distinct in each bite and as the summer progresses use some of the edible flowers, like pot marigold petals, as a garnish.
The addition of the beans and almonds makes this a substantial salad that can be served as a light lunch as well as an accompaniment to the main meal.
The quantities and varieties of the herbs are infinitely variable, it depends what you have available.
- 2 little gem lettuces — finely shredded
- 100g fine green beans
- 70g flaked almonds
- 1 small red onion — thinly sliced
- Salad herbs to choose from: Chives, Coriander, French Parsley, Dill, Rocket, Mint, Basil, salad Burnet — mix as many as you like.
For the dressing:
- 2 cloves of garlic — finely chopped
- 100ml greek yoghurt
- 1 ripe avocado
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp each salt and black pepper
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
To prepare:
- Toast the almonds on a tray in the oven at a low heat until golden — watch them carefully as they quickly burn! — or you can buy them ready toasted in some supermarkets
- Top and tail the beans and cut in two.
- Blanch in boiling water for 2 minutes until just tender, then
- Cool under a running tap and drain on kitchen paper.
- Mix the shredded lettuce, beans, almonds and red onion in a bowl.
- Pick the leaves of your chosen herbs from their stems, until you have a mound roughly the same size as the lettuce mixture.
- Combine the herb leaves with the lettuce mix ready for serving.
The dressing is most easily made in a mini food processor, or smoothie maker:
- Chop the avocado roughly and mix with all of the other dressing ingredients in the processor.
- Taste for seasoning and add a little more if required.
If you prefer you can do this by hand by mashing the avocado well with a fork and beating in all of the other ingredients.
Try not to make the dressing too far in advance as the avocado can darken if left to stand for too long.