Welcome to Day 9 of the inaugural Holiday Salad Marathon, where I’m sharing 30 salads in a row through to Christmas Eve – just for something different to the usual sugar-loaded baking countdowns!! And I actually have to share this one today, otherwise I’ll have to change the name to “Summer Salad” (today’s the last day of spring)!
Spring Salad
This is a wonderful, vibrantly green salad that makes the most of vegetables that are in season during spring, when they’re at their cheapest and best. The whole point of this Salad Marathon is to share ideas for something more interesting than a dreary iceberg lettuce with tomato and cucumber routine, and this salad ticks that box! A combination of cooked and raw ingredients, this salad is made with blanched asparagus, snow peas and peas which are then piled onto baby cos lettuce (aka romaine) leaves, dotted with soft goats cheese and drizzled with a lemon dressing. “Seasonal” is often no more than a token word in the food world, but this salad’s as truly seasonal as it gets!
What goes in Spring Salad
Here’s a visual of what you need (which I realise I just listed above… this is just in case you glossed over the words!!😂) The vegetables are all conveniently blanched in the same pot to simplify the recipe. I just add them in the order it takes for them to cook until “tender crisp”, meaning they are just cooked: Not raw but still a bit crisp, rather than boiled to death, soggy and sad. As for the baby cos lettuce (aka romaine), the smaller leaves can be used whole. For the larger outer leaves, I like to cut it down the middle, like so: There’s nothing this salad won’t pair with (Asian food aside, really). Alongside a quick Honey Garlic Chicken Breast, or BBQ Smothered Beef Brisket. A classic piece of seared fish or Crispy Skin Salmon (perhaps with a Lemon Butter Sauce), a big steaming bowl of Creamy Chicken Pasta or as a side to a summer Marinated Vegetable Pasta Salad. Classic, seasonal, vibrantly green and elegant. I think you’ll enjoy this one! – Nagi x
Life of Dozer
No interest in this recipe as I was photographing it! Now if it were a hunk of beef, he’d be heavy breathing all over it…… These salads are in addition to my regular 3 new recipes a week. Because aren’t you bored of the usual tomato-cucumber-lettuce garden salad routine?? Click here to see all the Holiday Salad Marathon recipes to date, or sign up for instant updates and you’ll receive a free email alert whenever I publish a new salad! 🙂
