Avocado green goddess salad

There's no limit when it comes to salad, as the green goddess proves; herbs, citrus, veggies, fruit and even buttermilk make an appearance.

Credit: Danielle Abou Karam

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 3 ripe apricots, halved, stones removed
• 1-2 heads baby cos, trimmed and cut into small wedges
• 1 cup picked watercress sprigs
• ¼ cup picked dill sprigs
• ½ bunch chives, finely chopped
• 1 bulb baby fennel, shaved, fronds reserved
• 2 tbsp drained pickled fennel
• extra-virgin olive oil, to drizzle
• lemon juice, to taste
• 80 g (½ cup) smoked almonds, coarsely chopped
• 2 tbsp puffed wild rice

Avocado green goddess dressing

• 2 avocados
• 1 cup picked watercress sprigs
• 6 confit garlic cloves (see note)
• 1 tbsp drained capers baby in brine
• 1-2 lemons, juice, to taste
• salt, to taste
• 60 ml (¼ cup) buttermilk, approximately
• 1 small bunch flat – leaf parsley, leaves picked and finely chopped
• 1 bunch French tarragon, leaves picked and chopped
• ½ bunch chives, finely chopped
• black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat a chargrill pan or barbecue. Chargrill the apricots, cut-side down, turning occasionally until lightly charred and tender. Cut into wedges.
2. Meanwhile, for the avocado green goddess dressing, place the avocado, watercress, confit garlic and capers in a food processor. Add lemon juice and salt to taste, then puree until smooth. Add enough buttermilk to make a pourable dressing. Transfer to a bowl, then stir in the chopped parsley, tarragon and chives. Season with a grind of pepper.
3. To serve, spread a good amount of the green goddess dressing on the base of a large serving plate. Top with the cos wedges. Place the watercress, dill, chives, shaved fennel, fennel fronds and pickled fennel in a bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice and gently toss to combine. Place the salad over the cos lettuce wedges, scatter with the apricots, smoked almonds and puffed wild rice.

Note

• To make confit garlic, place peeled garlic cloves in a small saucepan and add enough extra virgin olive oil to cover well. Cook over the lowest heat possible for 30 minutes or until the garlic is tender. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Pour into a clean jar, seal and refrigerate until needed.

Photography by Danielle Abou Karam.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.